A Network Simulator for the Estimation of Bandwidth Load and Latency Created by Heterogeneous Spiking Neural Networks on Neuromorphic Computing Communication Networks

Abstract

Accelerated simulations of biological neural networks are in demand to discover the principals of biological learning. Novel many-core simulation platforms, e.g., SpiNNaker, BrainScaleS and Neurogrid, allow one to study neuron behavior in the brain at an accelerated rate, with a high level of detail. However, they do not come anywhere near simulating the human brain. The massive amount of spike communication has turned out to be a bottleneck. We specifically developed a network simulator to analyze in high detail the network loads and latencies caused by different network topologies and communication protocols in neuromorphic computing communication networks. This simulator allows simulating the impacts of heterogeneous neural networks and evaluating neuron mapping algorithms, which is a unique feature among state-of-the-art network models and simulators. The simulator was cross-checked by comparing the results of a homogeneous neural network-based run with corresponding bandwidth load results from comparable works. Additionally, the increased level of detail achieved by the new simulator is presented. Then, we show the impact heterogeneous connectivity can have on the network load, first for a small-scale test case, and later for a large-scale test case, and how different neuron mapping algorithms can influence this effect. Finally, we look at the latency estimations performed by the simulator for different mapping algorithms, and the impact of the node size.

Keywords

• network simulator
• neuromorphic computing
• communication network
• heterogeneous connectivity models
• neuron mappings