Spike-time encoding of gas concentrations using neuromorphic analog sensory front-end

Abstract: Gas concentration detection is important for applications such as gas leakage monitoring. Metal Oxide (MOx) sensors show high sensitivities for specific gases, which makes them particularly useful for such monitoring applications. However, how to efficiently sample and further process the sensor responses remains an open question. Here we propose a simple analog circuit design inspired by the spiking output of the mammalian olfactory bulb and by event-based vision sensors. Our circuit encodes the gas concentration in the time difference between the pulses of two separate pathways. We show that in the setting of controlled airflow-embedded gas injections, the time difference between the two generated pulses varies inversely with gas concentration, which is in agreement with the spike timing difference between tufted cells and mitral cells of the mammalian olfactory bulb. Encoding concentration information in analog spike timings may pave the way for rapid and efficient gas detection, and ultimately lead to data- and power-efficient monitoring devices to be deployed in uncontrolled and turbulent environments.