Revolutionary Computing Algorithms (RCA)

Project Manager: Benny Toomarian, Ph.D., Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

The purpose of the RCA project is to develop alternative computing methodologies and models of computing on new platforms, suitable for the space environment, with the requisite high speed, low mass, and low power consumption necessary for future spacecraft. NASA's challenge for the 21st century is to maximize science return while reducing cost and risk. Underlying this challenge is the need for robust computing resources to solve computationally hard problems. Providing these resources in a space environment imposes constraints not easily addressed by adapting commercial technology. The objective of RCA is to develop new computing paradigms to fulfill these requirements. Although emphasis here is on space computing, RCA's solutions are anticipated to impact the overall field of computation.

RCA's principal customers are the Space Science Enterprise (Code S), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the National Security Agency (NSA).

RCA is organized into two research elements:

Bio-inspired Computing

Flies, rats, fish, frogs, and other creatures offer intriguing examples of biological systems that excel at capturing, integrating, and processing data from their different sensory systems. Biological systems may provide a rich source of computational models and problem-solving methods for addressing NASA challenges in the area of autonomous systems. The Bio-inspired Computing element of RCA is investigating neural networks, genetic algorithms, cognitive science, and gene sequencing to discover biologically inspired methods of storing information and performing computations.

Physics-inspired Computing

Quantum Computing is a revolutionary approach to computing that exploits quantum effects—such as superposition, interference, and non-determinism—to solve problems previously considered intractable. Quantum computers are expected to eventually perform certain computational tasks exponentially faster than any computer today. The Physics-inspired Computing element is using quantum physics to develop revolutionary models of computation for addressing NASA challenges in areas such as scheduling, planning, pattern recognition, and data compression.

RCA Project Milestones

Development of an adaptable architecture for nanoelectronic computing and demonstration by simulation. (Project milestone 8.13.4)

Demonstration of biologically inspired computing models applicable to a complex automated-reasoning (AR) or intelligent-data-understanding (IDU) task.
Identification of AR, IDU, and human-centered-computing (HCC) tasks that can be solved in a quantum-computing framework

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