Highly reconfigurable oscillator-based Ising Machine through quasiperiodic modulation of coupling strength

Area of Science:

• Physics and Engineering
• Computer Science and Engineering

Background:

• Ising Machines (IMs) offer potential advantages over conventional architectures for complex optimization problems.
• Existing IM implementations utilize diverse technologies, including quantum, optical, digital, and analog CMOS.
• Coupled electronic oscillators show promise for IMs, but require high reconfigurability for complex tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the implementation of highly reconfigurable Ising Machines (IMs) based on coupled electronic oscillators.
• To propose and demonstrate a novel architecture for oscillator-based IMs with quasiperiodically modulated coupling.
• To develop a proof-of-concept CMOS implementation for highly reconfigurable oscillator-based IMs.

Main Methods:

• Numerical simulations to demonstrate the potential of quasiperiodically modulated coupling strength in a common medium.
• Design and fabrication of a proof-of-concept CMOS circuit using coupled ring oscillators.
• Experimental validation of the proposed architecture's functionality.

Main Results:

• The proposed quasiperiodically modulated coupling approach shows potential for highly reconfigurable oscillator-based IMs.
• The CMOS coupled ring oscillator implementation successfully demonstrated functionality.
• The architecture consistently found solutions for the Max-Cut optimization problem.

Conclusions:

• The developed oscillator-based Ising Machine architecture significantly simplifies the physical implementation of highly reconfigurable systems.
• This approach offers a viable pathway for efficient hardware solutions to complex optimization problems.
• The study highlights the potential of coupled electronic oscillators for next-generation computing paradigms.