SpiNNaker Software development uses (loosely) a Functionally Driven Development methodology. As such, we have a set of features that we are working on at present or that work is planned to start on in the future. The titles below give a brief overview of these features. Each feature is then linked with the appropriate issues and pull requests that give more detail about the feature.
Note that in some cases, there will be no pull requests or issues; this indicates that we recognise a feature in need of software engineering effort but have not yet thought about the details.
Low-level interface to tools
This will provide a low-level interface to complete the integration of rig into the tools. This includes the ability to run a “place-and-route” in a single operation from a machine graph, the ability to write data in a “file-like” way (including seeks), and the ability to load executables and data in a single call to the machine. This will also include some changes so that software features can be used in isolation of other features e.g. recording when data specification generation has not been used.
Improved Multi-board support
This will improve the support for using multiple boards, both through changes to SpiNNMan and through improved support for live input and output when multiple Ethernet-connected-chips are present.
Fix External Device support
Support for external devices is currently broken - the sending of commands to the device in particular needs to be fixed.
Complete PyNN 0.7 support
The software will be updated to include the complete set of PyNN 0.7 features where feasible.
PyNN 0.8 support
The software will be updated to include the complete set of PyNN 0.8 features. This may be implemented in a new module.
Improved Delay representation
Delays in sPyNNaker are currently require a delay extension. Another linked-list representation would remove this need, at the cost of needing more DMAs to be executed.
Improved Loading speed
Synaptic matrices are currently expanded on host and then loaded. Instead, the matrix should be expanded on the machine where possible.
Improve reliability of the HBP service
The HBP service should be able to cope with events such as the central NMPI server being unavailable or the service being restarted whilst jobs are running.
New External Device Protocol
The current version of EIEIO doesn’t support features such as packets with both time, keys and payloads. Development of a new version of EIEIO is in progress. Additionally, this should be linked to the MUSIC protocol to ensure that SpiNNaker software can communicate with other devices.
Change Poisson rates during simulation
It is currently only possible to specify the Poisson rate once for a whole simulation. Instead it would be good to support multiple rates throughout the simulation e.g. as a list with start and end times (non-overlapping).
Allocate ports dynamically
Where IP tags are used, a socket should be opened first after which the port number of the socket can then be requested in the tag, rather than using a fixed port number. The database should then also allow dynamic registration of externally listening receivers of IP tag traffic.
Work out CPU and DTCM usage
Each of the components should be profiled in terms of the CPU and DTCM usage to make more accurate decisions about partitioning. A profiler is in progress to aid in this work.
Partitioning, Placement and Routing Algorithms
Improvements to the Partitioning, Placement and Routing to aid in the mapping of problems on to the machine. This should include bringing rig algorithms into PACMAN.
Testing
Currently integration tests are based on looking at the outputs. The few unit tests in existence are mostly broken. Thus the automated tests almost always fail. The integration tests should be made to be like unit tests, and unless absolutely necessary, the unit tests should be removed; instead feature tests should be developed to ensure that the features work as expected.
Database on SpiNNaker
The implementation of a Database application using SpiNNaker.
Split Neural Processing
This will split the neural and synapse processing so that they are run on separate cores. This has several advantages, including the ability to run at 0.1ms in real-time and the ability to have multiple STDP rules on a single connection between two populations of neurons.
Implement Java/C++ Version
The tools might be better in an alternative language (e.g. Java) with hooks to allow calls from other languages e.g. PyNN would be in Python but would call Java through an interface (probably socket-based). The Java code would likely be easier to maintain as well as faster. C++ would also be considered.
Improve Provenance on HBP portal
Provide provenance data for the HBP portal.
Initial Software for SpiNNaker-2
Create the initial software for the SpiNNaker-2 platform, including the low-level spinnaker_tools, SCAMP and SpiNNMan.
Implement the MAT2 neuron model
Create a MAT2 model implementation.
Implement the AdEx neuron model
Create an AdEx model implementation.
Empirical Probability Distributions
Support Empirical Probability Distributions in connectivity (i.e. a new Connector), connection weights and delays, and neural parameters.
Live Update of Live Gathering
Allow the turning on and off of the live gathering of populations (and sub-populations if possible) during simulation, including turning off routing entries to reduce traffic.
Live Update of Parameters
Allow parameters of neuron models and connectivity (weights and delays rather than turning connections on and off) to be modified during simulation.
Faster Data Extraction
Improve the speed of data extraction by using coordinated (i.e. not all cores at once) multicast/fixed-route packets to send data to a gathering core (one per board) which can then forward the data back to the host.
In-Machine Analysis
Allow post-run analysis algorithms to be run on the SpiNNaker machine.
Stochastic Rounding for Plasticity
Very small updates of weights and ring buffer scaling are currently incompatible since one requires range in the weights and one requires accuracy. Stochastic rounding can help to solve the problem by deciding whether a small weight is added with probability dependent on the value to be added relative to the value to be added to i.e. if the smallest value representable is 10 and the value to be added (or subtracted) is 2, the probability of the operation occurring is 0.2 (where the operation will use the smallest value representable instead of the value i.e. 10 will be added instead of 2 in the example).
SpiNNaker Proxy
Create a proxy for SpiNNaker machines so that they can run on any network but be accessed from outside. This could use UDP directly or UDP tunnelled over TCP. The proxy should be stateful, so it should also handle the opening of IP Tags and Reverse IP Tags replacing the port and IP addresses internally and then translating on request. The interface for this could also allow a board to be allocated via spalloc and then managed internally by the proxy.
Improved Power Usage
Improve the power usage by turning off unused chips and cores.
Combined Neuron Models
Allow neuron models that combine all the existing components.