Connection pointers

Defining the Network Architecture

One of the most important features of the Serial Update Architecture is the use of reconfigurable interconnections between the pRAMs. Every input of the pRAM is associated with a Connection Pointer. A Connection Pointer defines the routing by which a pRAM's input is connected to the output of another pRAM or to an external input. Thus, the network architecture is described by a Connection Table which is in RAM to allow a host computer to reconfigure the network at any time. The Connection Table can be written in such a way that a variety of network topologies can be built using the same hardware. The concept of a Connection Pointer is extended the reward and penalty inputs to enable both Global and Local learning strategies in the on-chip learning scheme.

A Connection Pointer is a 12 bit binary number which defines the device location and the internal address of the data source. The definition of a Connection Pointer is shown in the following table.

Bit11-87-0
FunctionDevice LocationpRAM number or External input number

Definition of a Connection Pointer

Bits 0 to 7 specify the pRAM number within the module if the Device Location is set to be a pRAM Module or the external input number if the Device Location is set to be an External Input.

The Device Location defines the source of the data for that input which is one of the following: the pRAM-256 Module itself, an adjacent module, an External Input, Vcc or GND. Vcc and GND allow a constant '1' or '0' to be presented to any pRAM input.

BitBitBitBitData Source
111098
0000Local Chip
0001North Chip
0010East Chip
0011South Chip
0100West Chip
0101GND
0110Vcc
0111Global REWARD
1000Global PENALTY
1001Negated Local Chip Data
1010Negated North Chip Data
1011Negated East Chip Data
1100Negated South Chip Data
1101Negated West Chip Data
1110External Input
1111Negated External Input

Definition of the data source in a Connection Pointer

More data

T G Clarkson, August 1995