SBIR Phase I: Quantum Oscillator Processing Unit

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the creation of quantum Oscillator Processing Units (OPUs), which would be a disruptive technology for Edge Computing. The OPU would increase data security by offering a local solution. The quantum OPU works as a remote solution for many industrial AI applications that require powerful and fast computing on the edge. The proposed OPUs could overcome the von Neumann bottleneck, while also enabling a higher computational density and faster speeds.  Quantum OPUs could also provide a powerful, viable alternative that could be manufactured in the US. The scientific impacts of this project would be a more fundamental understanding of how oscillators, which are one of the most prolific dynamic systems in the universe, can also be reconsidered as physical computers. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to create a quantum adaptive oscillator, which will function as a core for an OPU. By exploring the dynamics of oscillator computers, a fundamental theory will be formulated concerning how nonlinear dynamics is translated into computational ability. The current goal is to create an OPU core that is composed of a quantum oscillator. Since quantum oscillators can be constructed that have extremely high frequencies even at room temperature, the quantum oscillator core will be capable of ultra-fast computing. The quantum OPU merges two separate methods of analog computing: physical reservoir computers and adaptive oscillators. Ultimately, since an oscillator core’s memory and processing are not independent, OPUs could provide a solution to the von Neumann bottleneck. By harnessing temporal complexity, OPUs could also push past the computational density limits imposed by Moore's Law. This work would establish a fundamental scientific understanding of the link between physics and information. By leveraging these two disparate forms of neuromorphic intelligence, it will also be the basis of a powerful Oscillator Processing Unit that acts as both an AI inference processor and a generalized computing processor. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.