A More Hardware-Oriented Spiking Neural Network Based on Leading Memory Technology and Its Application with Reinforcement Learning

In recent days, more hardware-driven artificial intelligence system capable of brain-like low-energy consumption is gaining ever-increasing interest. The hardware-driven property lies in the low-power synaptic device and its array along with the area and energy-efficient neuron circuits. In this work, a spiking neural network (SNN) based on analog synaptic device of resistive-switching random access memory (RRAM) is constructed from the experimentally fabricated devices. Furthermore, the capability of the designed SNN hardware for sequential tasks through an optimal reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm is demonstrated. More specifically, the Rush Hour game is conducted as an example of applications for the sequential task for which an SNN architecture is plausibly suited. The rule of the game is simple but has not been demonstrated by a hardware-oriented artificial neural network (ANN) yet, and in this work, it is reported that the analog RRAM synaptic devices in the cross-point array architecture successfully solve the problem via the RL algorithm.