Image Processing Architecture for Semiconductor Nanowire Based Fabrics

A new processing architecture for semiconductor nanowire grid fabrics is presented. The system consists of a large number of functionally identical units called cells. Cells are locally interconnected with nearest neighbors, with a limited number of global signals routed from supporting CMOS circuitry. One possible implementation of a digital cellular neural network (CNN) using this architecture is shown. The digital cellular design may be up to 27times denser than an equivalent 18 nm CMOS implementation. The system, based on a collective computation model, may also significantly alleviate manufacturing, since 100% fault-free components may not be necessary.