1980 Preface * 1999 Preface * 1999 Acknowledgements * Introduction * 1 Circular Logic * 2 Phase Singularities (Screwy Results of Circular Logic) * 3 The Rules of the Ring * 4 Ring Populations * 5 Getting Off the Ring * 6 Attracting Cycles and Isochrons * 7 Measuring the Trajectories of a Circadian Clock * 8 Populations of Attractor Cycle Oscillators * 9 Excitable Kinetics and Excitable Media * 10 The Varieties of Phaseless Experience: In Which the Geometrical Orderliness of Rhythmic Organization Breaks Down in Diverse Ways * 11 The Firefly Machine 12 Energy Metabolism in Cells * 13 The Malonic Acid Reagent ('Sodium Geometrate') * 14 Electrical Rhythmicity and Excitability in Cell Membranes * 15 The Aggregation of Slime Mold Amoebae * 16 Numerical Organizing Centers * 17 Electrical Singular Filaments in the Heart Wall * 18 Pattern Formation in the Fungi * 19 Circadian Rhythms in General * 20 The Circadian Clocks of Insect Eclosion * 21 The Flower of Kalanchoe * 22 The Cell Mitotic Cycle * 23 The Female Cycle * References * Index of Names * Index of Subjects

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/596B270197FE27DE5FABB598B6210622/S0025557200150892a.pdf/div-class-title-span-class-italic-the-geometry-of-biological-time-span-by-a-t-winfree-pp-544-dm68-corrected-second-printing-1990-isbn-3-540-52528-9-springer-div.pdf

The geometry of biological time , by A. T. Winfree. Pp 544. DM68. Corrected Second Printing 1990. ISBN 3-540-52528-9 (Springer)

https://users.dimi.uniud.it/~antonio.dangelo/Robotica/2012/helper/leggedRobot/Ijspeert08NN.pdf

2008 Special Issue: Central pattern generators for locomotion control in animals and robots: A review

The goal of this paper is to review in brief the basic physics of single-election devices, as well as their-current and prospective applications. These devices based on the controllable transfer of single electrons between small conducting "islands", have already enabled several important scientific experiments. Several other applications of analog single-election devices in unique scientific instrumentation and metrology seem quite feasible. On the other hand, the prospect of silicon transistors being replaced by single-electron devices in integrated digital circuits faces tough challenges and remains uncertain. Nevertheless, even if this replacement does not happen, single electronics will continue to play an important role by shedding light on the fundamental size limitations of new electronic devices. Moreover, recent research in this field has generated some by-product ideas which may revolutionize random-access-memory and digital-data-storage technologies.

Single-electron devices and their applications

The electronic properties of inorganic devices such as memristors can be used to simulate neurological behaviour. In particular, ionic and electronic effects in a silver sulphide device are now shown to mimic short- and long-term synaptic functions. Memory is believed to occur in the human brain as a result of two types of synaptic plasticity: short-term plasticity (STP) and long-term potentiation (LTP; refs 1, 2, 3, 4). In neuromorphic engineering5,6, emulation of known neural behaviour has proven to be difficult to implement in software because of the highly complex interconnected nature of thought processes. Here we report the discovery of a Ag2S inorganic synapse, which emulates the synaptic functions of both STP and LTP characteristics through the use of input pulse repetition time. The structure known as an atomic switch7,8, operating at critical voltages, stores information as STP with a spontaneous decay of conductance level in response to intermittent input stimuli, whereas frequent stimulation results in a transition to LTP. The Ag2S inorganic synapse has interesting characteristics with analogies to an individual biological synapse, and achieves dynamic memorization in a single device without the need of external preprogramming. A psychological model related to the process of memorizing and forgetting is also demonstrated using the inorganic synapses. Our Ag2S element indicates a breakthrough in mimicking synaptic behaviour essential for the further creation of artificial neural systems that emulate characteristics of human memory.

/pdf/short-term-plasticity-and-long-term-potentiation-mimicked-in-3c6onjbc0r.pdf

Short-term plasticity and long-term potentiation mimicked in single inorganic synapses

Computational geometry

Analog computation is a processing method that solves a given problem by utilizing an analogy of a physical system to the problem. An idea is presented here for relating the behavior of quantum-flux parametron circuits to analog computation. As an example, a method is proposed for solving a combinatorial optimization problem, the max-cut problem, by utilizing the properties of quantum-flux parametron circuits. In problem solving, a parametron circuit is constructed whose free energy is related to the objective function of a given problem and then is made to settle down to its minimum energy state. The solution to the problem can be obtained by checking the final state that the circuit reaches. The effectiveness of this method was confirmed by computer simulation for sample problem instances.

Analog computation using quantum-flux parametron devices

In this report, we propose an analog neural oscillator circuit for a locomotion controller in a quadruped walking robot. Animal locomotion, such as walking, running, swimming and flying, is based on periodic rhythmic movements. These rhythmic movements are driven by the biological neural network, called the central pattern generator (CPG). In recent years, many researchers have applied CPG to the locomotion controller for walking robots. However, most of the CPG controllers have been developed with digital processors, and thus have several problems, such as higher power consumption. Hence, we designed an analog circuit as a neural oscillator underlying a CPG controller. The proposed circuit is based on the Amari-Hopfield model, which is suitable for analog circuit implementation because of its simple transfer function. Furthermore, the proposed circuit operates in the subthreshold region. As a result, it can reduce power consumption. By numerical analysis, simulations and experiments, the proposed circuit is shown to have the capability to generate stable rhythmic patterns in noisy environments.

An analog neural oscillator circuit for locomotion controller in quadruped walking robot

In this paper, we propose a novel single-electron device for computation of a Voronoi diagram (VD). A cellular-automaton model of VD formation [18] was used to construct the device that consisted of three layers of a 2-D array of single-electron oscillators. Through extensive numerical simulations, we show pattern formation on the proposed device and demonstrate the VD computation.

/pdf/a-single-electron-reaction-diffusion-device-for-computation-30go2xyfvf.pdf

A Single-Electron Reaction-Diffusion Device for Computation of a Voronoi Diagram.

Properties of chemically vapor-deposited amorphous silicon-germanium-boron alloy are reported with special reference to its applicability to contact electrodes in silicon device technology. Contact properties of the amorphous alloy with p on n+ and n on n+ epitaxial single-crystalline silicon are investigated. The forward on-voltage and reverse recovery time of these diodes decrease drastically in comparison with those of corresponding conventional p-n and Schottky structures. On account of its dense localized states, the amorphous alloy can be regarded as a Schottky metal providing a low barrier height for holes. This enables the low-loss and high-speed operation of these diodes, the mechanism of which is discussed here. The effective work function of this amorphous alloy is also estimated.

Amorphous Silicon-Germanium-Boron Alloy Applied to Low-Loss and High-Speed Diodes

The present paper proposes an analog CMOS circuit that implements a bursting oscillator with a depressing synapse. Bursting oscillation arises as the result of interaction between a fast excitatory subsystem and a slow subsystem. We employ an analog circuit, called the hardware oregonator for emulating the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction as a fast subsystem and an additional circuit as a slow subsystem. We constructed a bursting oscillator circuit from two bursting cell circuits, based on the hardware oregonator with a depressing synaptic circuit. Using SPICE, we demonstrate that the circuit shows bursting oscillations and the bursting frequency can be regulated by tuning the depressing synapse circuit.

/pdf/analog-cmos-implementation-of-a-bursting-oscillator-with-bcjzmny2im.pdf

Yoshihito Amemiya

Papers

Analog computation using quantum-flux parametron devices

An analog neural oscillator circuit for locomotion controller in quadruped walking robot

A Single-Electron Reaction-Diffusion Device for Computation of a Voronoi Diagram.

Amorphous Silicon-Germanium-Boron Alloy Applied to Low-Loss and High-Speed Diodes

Analog CMOS implementation of a bursting oscillator with depressing synapse