# Digital Prototypes May Enable Analog Neuromorphic Chips

- Show: [EE Times Current](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current)
- Published: 2025-06-06
- Length: 52m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips
- Listen: https://podcast.show/aspencore/episode/146057690/

## Summary

Dr. Charlotte Frenkel, an assistant professor at Delft University of Technology, discusses her work on neuromorphic chips, including the digital Odin chip and the Reckon chip, explaining how she uses digital prototypes to enable efficient analog designs. She details the creation of the Neurobench project to establish fair, evolving benchmarks for the field, addressing the pain of inconsistent metrics like picojoules per synaptic operation. The episode also features a discussion with Professor Ralph Etienne-Cummings of Johns Hopkins University on the challenges of standardizing benchmarks and the trade-offs between digital prototyping and analog implementation.

## Chapters

- [0:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=3) Introduction: Dr. Charlotte Frenkel and the Brains and Machines Podcast
- [2:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=135) Dr. Frenkel's Background and the Odin Chip Design
- [4:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=267) The Pain of Benchmarking and the Comprehensive Review Paper
- [8:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=491) The Reckon Chip: On-Device Learning and Eligibility Traces
- [13:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=810) Advice for PhD Students: Simplicity, Locality, and Open Source
- [16:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=969) Motivation for the Review Paper and the Neurobench Project
- [20:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=1215) Neurobench Benchmarks: Primate Target Reaching and Grand Challenges
- [22:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=1344) Event-Based Graph Neural Networks and Low Latency Vision
- [25:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=1544) Hardware Optimization for Graph Networks and In-Memory Computing
- [28:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=1728) On-Device Learning, Few-Shot Learning, and Digital In-Memory Computing
- [32:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=1931) Inspiration from Neuroscience: Cortical Microcolumns
- [34:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=2042) Discussion with Professor Ralph Etienne-Cummings on Benchmarking
- [37:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=2278) Benchmarking Risks, Metrics, and Community-Driven Tasks
- [42:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=2524) Eligibility Traces, Credit Assignment, and Graph Neural Networks
- [46:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2025-06-06-digital-prototypes-may-enable-analog-neuromorphic-chips#t=2768) Rewiring Networks and Historical Context of Neuromorphic Chips

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Open-source hardware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/open-source-hardware)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Delft University of Technology (company)
- University College London (company)
- Johns Hopkins University (company)
- Czech Technical University (company)
- Odin (product)
- Reckon (product)
- Neurobench (product)
- IBM TrueNorth (product)
- Lohi (product)
- E-Props (product)
- Iprop (product)
- Giacomo Indiveri (other)
- David Bol (other)
- Jacquemo (other)
- Devery (other)
- Ralph Etienne-Cummings (other)
- Sunny Bains (other)
- Julia D'Angelo (other)
- Taylor Marvin (other)
- Brad Ammonia (other)
- Scendia (other)
- Jason Yip (other)
- Lisa Donati (other)
- Elisa (other)
- Dan Hammerstrom (other)
- Izikovich (other)
- Gordon Chen (other)
- Technical University of Munich (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [181: Work on It for Ten Years](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-12-30-181-work-on-it-for-ten-years) (Embedded.fm)
- [An Interview with Brett Fox and Dr Jeroen Fonderie - Device Doubling Decretum](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-01-22-an-interview-with-brett-fox-and-dr-jeroen-fonderie-device-doubling-decretum) (The Amp Hour)
- [An Interview with Zach Fredin](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-01-06-an-interview-with-zach-fredin) (The Amp Hour)
- [029 - Old Timey Name Droppin'](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2019-10-17-029-old-timey-name-droppin) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [Analog Components, First Person Flying and Idea Ownership](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2010-11-02-analog-components-first-person-flying-and-idea-ownership) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

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