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.