Efficient Hyperdimensional Computing With Spiking Phasors

Abstract

Hyperdimensional (HD) computing (also referred to as vector symbolic architectures, VSAs) offers a method for encoding symbols into vectors, allowing for those symbols to be combined in different ways to form other vectors in the same vector space. The vectors and operators form a compositional algebra, such that composite vectors can be decomposed back to their constituent vectors. Many useful algorithms have implementations in HD computing, such as classification, spatial navigation, language modeling, and logic. In this letter, we propose a spiking implementation of Fourier holographic reduced representation (FHRR), one of the most versatile VSAs. The phase of each complex number of an FHRR vector is encoded as a spike time within a cycle. Neuron models derived from these spiking phasors can perform the requisite vector operations to implement an FHRR. We demonstrate the power and versatility of our spiking networks in a number of foundational problem domains, including symbol binding and unbinding, spatial representation, function representation, function integration, and memory (i.e., signal delay).