Patent ID: 11888484
Assignee: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H  B | IPC B  G  H

Claim 17:
18. A method of solving a combinatorial optimization problem (COP) comprising:
forming a spin network mapping of a graph representing the COP using compute engine circuitry, the circuitry comprising:
a plurality of first ring oscillator loops each extending along a first axis;
a plurality of second ring oscillator loops each extending along a second axis that is transverse to the first axis;
a plurality of ring oscillators each producing an oscillating signal that represents a spin of the spin network mapping and comprising one of the first ring oscillator loops connected to one of the second ring oscillator loops through a strong coupling, each ring oscillator producing an oscillating signal representing the spin; and
a plurality of coupled ring oscillators each representing a connection between spins of the spin network mapping and comprising two of the ring oscillators connected to each other through a programmable weighted coupling block; and
a controller configured to:
program each of the weighted coupling blocks in accordance with the spin network mapping to selectively apply to the corresponding coupled ring oscillator a positive weight coupling that drives the oscillating signals of the ring oscillators of the coupled ring oscillator toward oscillating in a same phase with each other, or a negative weight coupling that drives the oscillating signals of the ring oscillators of the coupled ring oscillator toward oscillating in an opposite phase with each other;
compare a relative phase of the oscillating signals of the coupled ring oscillators at different delay points and output a phase signal indicating a degree to which the oscillating signals are in phase with each other; and
process the phase signals into a solution indicating a total energy of the spin network mapping.