Design criteria extensions for stable lateral inhibition networks in the presence of circuit parasitics

In the analog VLSI implementation of neural systems, it is sometimes convenient to build lateral inhibition networks by using a locally connected on-chip resistive grid. A serious problem of unwanted spontaneous oscillation often rises with these circuits and renders them unusable in practice. A report is presented on extensions of earlier work on circuit design criteria for stability in this type of network. The criteria are local in the sense that no overall analysis of the interconnected system is required for their use, empirical in the sense that they involve only measurable frequency response data on individual cells, and robust in the sense that they are not affected by unmodeled parasitic resistances and capacitances in the grid. The method is based on Tellegen´s theorem (from circuit theory) and the multiplier concept (from control theory)