SemiSynBio-III: Power Management Strategies for Computing and Storage in Biological, Biohybrid and Synthetic Systems

电源管理是生物和合成系统中节能计算和数据存储的关键。本项目提出了一种交互式的方法来研究计算机系统神经细胞和新兴混合生物计算设备中的电源管理的具体问题。电力管理是指根据需求控制能源支出。例如，计算机可能在不使用时“进入睡眠”，或者生物体可能减少大脑休眠区域的血液供应。先进的电源管理可以为工程系统带来显著的节能效果。该项目将研究脑细胞的能量管理，目的是发现自然策略。自然策略将与工程方法进行比较，以获得更广泛的理解和新概念的出现，这些新概念将在新的生物纳米计算和存储设备中进行测试。预计这些策略将为生物信息存储和生物计算机带来更好的性能和更低的能耗。该团队由一名计算机工程师、一名生物学家和一名材料科学家及其学生组成。将开发一种综合方法，在半导体技术和合成生物学的交叉点上教育K-12，本科生和研究生。通过检查电源管理的工程策略，将开发关于生物机制的可测试假设。预计生物机制反过来将指向新的生物启发工程解决方案。该项目将定义神经元和神经胶质中采用的电源管理策略（主题1），将电源管理集成到生物纳米混合基于位置的计算设备中（主题3），并开发支持设计，模拟和验证具有集成电源管理的基于位置的生物纳米电路的工具（主题5）。该项目的成功完成将提供对电源管理策略的好处和最终性能限制的综合观点，对生物计算无与伦比的能源效率产生新的假设和见解，展示工程生物纳米混合系统的进展，并将见解转化为半导体器件的新解决方案。将开发一种综合教育方法，使K- 12，本科生和研究生的不同受众能够获得半导体和合成生物学的联合专业知识。拟议的研究有可能通过以下方式造福社会：促进我们对神经元功能机制的理解，这将促进神经退行性疾病的预防和治疗;在感知、计算和反应能力方面，创造类似“生命材料”的材料;并且通过减少数据处理和存储的能量需求，该项目由生物科学理事会（BIO）分子和细胞生物科学部（MCB）联合资助。，计算机和信息科学与工程局（CISE）的计算和通信基础司（CCF），工程局（ENG）的电气、通信和网络系统司（ECCS），以及数学和物理科学理事会（MPS）的材料研究部（DMR）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Power management is key to energy-efficient computing and data storage in biological and synthetic systems. This project proposes an interactive approach to study the specific issue of power management in computer systems nerve cells, and emerging hybrid biocomputation devices. Power management refers to the control of energy expenditures in response to demand. For example, a computer may “go to sleep” when not in use, or an organism may reduce blood supply to a dormant region of the brain. Advanced power management can deliver significant energy savings in engineering systems. The project will study power management in brain cells with the goal of discovering the natural strategies. The natural strategies will be compared with engineering approaches for broader understanding and emerging of new concepts, which will be tested in new bio-nano computing and storage devices. It is expected these strategies will result in better performance at lower energy consumption for biological information storage and biocomputers. The team consists of a computer engineer, a biologist, and a materials scientist and their students. An integrated approach to educating K-12, undergraduate and graduate students at the intersection of semiconductor technologies and synthetic biology will be developed.By examining engineering strategies for power management, testable hypotheses about biological mechanisms will be developed. It is expected that the biological mechanisms, in turn, will point towards new bioinspired engineering solutions. The project will define power management strategies employed in neurons and glia (Theme 1), integrate power management into bio-nano hybrid position-based computing devices (Theme 3), and develop tools supporting the design, simulation, and verification of position- based bio-nano circuits with integral power management (Theme 5). Successful completion of the project will deliver an integrated perspective on the benefits and ultimate performance limits of power management strategies, generate new hypotheses and insights into the unparalleled energy efficiency of biological computation, demonstrate advances in the engineering bio-nano hybrid systems, and translate the insights into new solutions for semiconductor devices. An integrated educational approach to enable diverse audiences of K- 12, undergraduate and graduate students to acquire joint expertise in semiconductors and synthetic biology will be developed. The proposed research has the potential to benefit society by advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying neuronal functioning, which will advance the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases; by creating progress towards materials resembling “living materials” in their ability to sense, compute, and respond; and by reducing the energy requirements for data processing and storage, which minimizes the rapidly increasing carbon footprint of computing.This project has been jointly funded by Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), and the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).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.