A Bio-Inspired CMOS Circuit for the Excitation and Inhibition of Neuronal Oscillators

A silicon synapse circuit designed in 180 nm CMOS technology is presented in conjunction with relaxation-based neuronal oscillators. The synapse allows excitatory as well as inhibitory coupling of artificial spiking neurons. The coupling weights are determined by resistors, for which integration as memristive devices is targeted. Simulation results for one excitatory and one inhibitory neuron connected to a third summing neuron confirm that the summing neuron firing rate is reduced (inhibited) or increased (excited) respectively in accordance with relative coupling strengths and firing rates.