A computer chip designed to mimic the performance of the human brain has hit a major new milestone.

The chip, developed by IBM, and Cornell Tech and iniLabs, is a significant step up from its performance just over two years ago when the project was first announced.

The SyNAPSE chip, which stands for Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics, is now capable of 1 million programmable neurons, 256 million programmable synapses and 46 billion synaptic operations per second, per watt. This advancement points the way toward a future of faster, cooler and more compact cognitive computing in a wide range of scenarios.

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However, the development, which is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is still currently limited to the lab.

Referred to as "cognitive computing" because of a dynamic that attempts to mimic the interactions of neurons and synapses in biological brains, IBM uses what it terms as advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry to allow for more organic problem solving based on hypotheses, past experiences and trail and error — just like a human brain.

"These brain-inspired chips could transform mobility, via sensory and intelligent applications that can fit in the palm of your hand but without the need for Wi-Fi," said Dr. Dharmendra S. Modha, chief scientist at IBM Research's Brain-Inspired Computing unit.

Some of the future applications the researchers envision the SyNAPSE chip facilitating include solar-powered, leaf-shaped sensor modules that could send out environmental and forest fire alerts as well as assistive glasses that would be able to guide the visually impaired wearer without the need of a Wi-Fi connection.

Concept drawings of solar-powered sensors designed to detect changes in the environment. Image: IBM Research

An earlier prototype of the neurosynaptic core project was revealed in 2011. At the time, the chip boasted only 256 neurons. According to the research team, the current chip, built on Samsung’s 28nm process technology, is roughly the size of a postage stamp and can run on a small amount of energy, about equivalent to what it takes to power a hearing aid.

"It is an astonishing achievement to leverage a process traditionally used for commercially available, low-power mobile devices to deliver a chip that emulates the human brain by processing extreme amounts of sensory information with very little power," said Shawn Han, vice president of Samsung's foundry marketing. "This is a huge architectural breakthrough that is essential as the industry moves toward the next-generation cloud and big-data processing."