CHIPMuNCS is a frontier research project at the interface between nanomagnetism, spintronics, and nonlinear dynamics. It is motivated by the premise that the rich behaviour of nonlinear systems, in particular chaos, can be leveraged for alternative paradigms for computing and information processing.
The primary objective is to establish the utility and feasibility of the nanocontact vortex oscillator, a nanoscale spintronic device, as a universal building block for chaos-based information processing by demonstrating three technological functionalities: random number generation, secure communications, and nonlinear computing. The underlying idea is that the complexity required for computation and possible cognitive functions can be generated within a single system, without the need of a complex array of interconnected subsystems. The project addresses the pressing challenges raised by the current information revolution, with the exponential growth of digital data, spurred by the internet, the ubiquity of “smartphones”, and unprecedented scientific advances in data-intensive fields from genetics to social networks. Identifying useful patterns amongst such vast oceans of bits is a timely and formidable challenge for current technologies.