Student project: Neuromorphic compressed sensing and event-based transmission

What you will do

A neuromorphic event-based camera inspired by how the retina processes light was introduced in 2008 [1]. Unlike a conventional frame-based camera, each pixel in event-based cameras reports changes in brightness only as they occur, using events, and stays silent otherwise. A similar concept has also been adopted in physiological signals with high sparsity, e.g., membrane potential [2]. The event encoding can be implemented with an event-based ADC, e.g., a level-crossing ADC which produces a positive event when crossing one contrast step with rising slope, and a negative event with falling slope. This event-based approach can achieve >1000× higher compression ratio than the existing approach while preserving same waveform features. When this event-based system adopts an “event-driven” transmission, e.g., asynchronous impulse-radio UWB, the transmission energy can be significantly reduced [3].

In this project, the intern will work on:

• Literature study.
• Collect sensor dataset for further signal processing.
• Based on imec’s existing CAD environment to develop event-based simulation platform.
• Understand the technology developing in imec, including event-based ADC, neuromorphic processing
• Develop new methodology for event-based signal processing and transmission.
• Implement and validate the concept.

[1] P. Lichtsteiner, et al., “A 128 dB 15 ms Latency Asynchronous Temporal Contrast Vision Sensor,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Feb. 2008.
[2] F. Corradi, et al., “A Neuromorphic Event-Based Neural Recording System for Smart Brain-Machine-Interfaces,” IEEE Transaction biomedical circuits and systems (TBioCAS), Oct. 2016.
[3] X. Zhang, et al., “A 2.89mW dry-electrode enabled clockless wireless ECG SoC for wearable applications,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC), Oct. 2016.

What we do for you

As the world-best research institute, we are the center of the excellence in nano-electronics design for Internet of Things and healthcare solutions. In this internship project, you will be working on the cutting-edge research project, under the supervision of the world-renown researchers from diverse background.  

Who you are

• You are an MSc student.
• You are available for a period of 12 months.
• Good analytical skills (e. g. Mathematical skills).
• Good CAD skills for event-based signal processing (e. g. Python/MATLAB/Verilog).
• Knowledges of neuromorphic computing.
• Knowledges of wireless communication.
• Motivated student eager to work independently and expand knowledge in the field.
• Good written and verbal English skills.

Interested

Click on ‘apply’ to submit your application. You will then be redirected to e-recruiting.

Please be advised that non-EU/EEA country students that are studying outside of the Netherlands, need to have a work-permit to be able to do an internship in the Netherlands.