nengo_spinnaker
is a SpiNNaker-based simulator for models built using Nengo. It allows real-time simulation of large-scale models.
Install using pip
:
$ pip install nengo_spinnaker
Configure nengo_spinnaker
to use your local SpiNNaker system:
$ nengo_spinnaker_setup
To use SpiNNaker to simulate your Nengo model first construct the model as normal. Then use nengo_spinnaker.Simulator
to simulate your model.:
import nengo_spinnaker
# Build model as normal
sim = nengo_spinnaker.Simulator(network)
sim.run(10.0)
# When done
sim.close()
After running your model you must call close
to leave the SpiNNaker machine in a clean state. Alternatively a with
block may be used to ensure the simulator is closed after use:
with sim:
sim.run(10.0)
Some specific configuration options are available for SpiNNaker. To use these:
# Modify config to use SpiNNaker parameters
nengo_spinnaker.add_spinnaker_params(network.config)
Current settings are:
function_of_time
- Mark a Node as being a function of time only.function_of_time_period
- Provide the period of the Node.
For example:
with model:
signal = nengo.Node(lambda t: np.sin(t))
nengo_spinnaker.add_spinnaker_params(model.config)
model.config[signal].function_of_time = True
First, you'll need to configure your network settings to be able to connect to the board. Go into your network manager and configure your ethernet connection. Set the IPv4 to use an IP address of 192.168.0.250
, the subnet mask to be 255.255.0.0
, and the gateway to be empty. Because the subnet mask has the first two bytes set, this means your SpiNNaker board must have its IP address set to 192.168.x.x
. Most boards will fall into this range, so the above address should be safe in most cases. It is important that your IP address does not collide with that of the board; again, the above address is chosen so that will be rare.
In order to know which SpiNNaker system to use, nengo_spinnaker
uses a config file called nengo_spinnaker.conf
file in either the directory you will be running your code from or, more usefully, a centralised location. The centralised location varies based on your operating system:
- Windows:
%userprofile%\.nengo\nengo_spinnaker.conf
- Other:
~/.config/nengo/nengo_spinnaker.conf
A utility called nengo_spinnaker_setup
installed with nengo_spinnaker
can be used to create this file. By default, the config file is created centrally but adding the --project
option will create a config file in the current directory (which applies only when running models in that directory).
An annotated example config file is provided for users who wish to create their config file by hand.
See DEVELOP.md for information on how to get involved in nengo_spinnaker
development and how to install and build the latest copy of nengo_spinnaker
.