Emulation of Bio-Inspired Networks

Abstract

The paper deals with hardware emulation of bio-inspired devices and nonlinear dynamic processes of complex nature by means of mixed-mode analog-digital emulators. The discretized state model of the emulated system serves for real-time calculation of dependent quantities. In contrast to input-output emulation known in control systems, the proposed approach emulates the ports of an electrical multiport network. The paper discusses the stability of the emulation process and the possibility of partitioning the system into two parts, one being emulated digitally and the other via an analog circuitry. The procedure is illustrated on the example of emulating the Fitzhugh-Nagumo model of neuron and the model of amoeba adaptation. The paper is an extension of our paper presented at the NGCAS 2018 conference in Valletta, Malta. The extended version deals newly with the choice of the integration method and provides a deeper stability analysis and more examples of emulation of biological models.