Introduction to stochastic computing and its challenges

We give a short overview of stochastic computing (SC) and its uses. SC computes with randomized bit-streams that loosely resemble the neural spike trains of the brain. Its key feature is the use of low-cost and low-power logic elements to implement complex numerical operations in a highly error-tolerant fashion. These advantages must be weighed against SC's inherently slow computing speed and low precision. Although studied sporadically since its invention in the 1960s, SC has regained interest recently as potentially suited to some emerging nanotechnologies, and to applications such as ECC decoding and biomedical image processing. However, a number of major challenges must be overcome if this potential is to be fully realized.