Apparatus and method for a scalable, free running neuromorphic processor. For example, one embodiment of a neuromorphic processing apparatus comprises: a plurality of neurons; an interconnection network to communicatively couple at least a subset of the plurality of neurons; a spike controller to stochastically generate a trigger signal, the trigger signal to cause a selected neuron to perform a thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A neuromorphic processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of neurons; an interconnection network to communicatively couple at least a subset of the plurality of neurons; a spike controller to stochastically generate a trigger signal, the trigger signal to cause a selected neuron to perform a thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal. 2. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the thresholding operation comprises determining whether a membrane potential is higher than a threshold. 3. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the spike signal comprises a spike packet transferred to a plurality of fan-out connections with other neurons along with a neuron identifier (ID) of the selected neuron. 4. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the spike controller further comprises a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) to generate a random number to stochastically generate the trigger signal. 5. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 4 further comprising: a comparator to compare the random number to a reference value, the spike controller to generate the trigger signal in response to the random number being lower than the reference value. 6. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the reference value is programmable to modify a frequency of the trigger signal. 7. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as claim 1 wherein the spike controller further comprises a counter to store a counter value, the counter to increment the counter value in response to the trigger signal, the counter value usable to generate a neuron identifier (ID) for a neuron to perform the thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal. 8. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 7 wherein the spike controller is to combine the counter value with a random offset value to generate the neuron ID. 9. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising: a plurality of neuromorphic cores, each including a subset of the neurons and at least one spike controller. 10. The neuromorphic processing apparatus as in claim 9 further comprising: a plurality of routers for routing spike packets between neurons within a neuromorphic core and neurons in different neuromorphic cores. 11. A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the operations of: dynamically forming interconnections between a plurality of neurons; stochastically generating a trigger signal, the trigger signal to cause a selected neuron to perform a thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal. 12. The machine-readable medium as in claim 11 wherein the thresholding operation comprises determining whether a membrane potential is higher than a threshold. 13. The machine-readable medium as in claim 12 wherein the spike signal comprises a spike packet transferred to a plurality of fan-out connections with other neurons along with a neuron identifier (ID) of the selected neuron. 14. The machine-readable medium as in claim 11 wherein stochastically generating the trigger signal comprises generating a random number usable to stochastically generate the trigger signal. 15. The machine-readable medium as in claim 14 further comprising program code to cause the machine to perform the operations of: comparing the random number to a reference value; and generating the trigger signal in response to the random number being lower than the reference value. 16. The machine-readable medium as in claim 15 wherein the reference value is programmable to modify a frequency of the trigger signal. 17. The machine-readable medium as claim 11 further comprising program code to cause the machine to perform the operations of: incrementing the counter value in response to the trigger signal, the counter value usable to generate a neuron identifier (ID) for a neuron to perform the thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal. 18. The machine-readable medium as in claim 17 further comprising program code to cause the machine to perform the operations of: combining the counter value with a random offset value to generate the neuron ID. 19. The machine-readable medium as in claim 11 wherein a subset of the neurons and at least one spike controller are integrated in a neuromorphic core. 20. The machine-readable medium as in claim 19 further comprising program code to cause the machine to perform the operations of: routing spike packets between neurons within a neuromorphic core and neurons in different neuromorphic cores. 21. An apparatus comprising: means for communicatively coupling a plurality of neurons; means for stochastically generating a trigger signal, the trigger signal to cause a selected neuron to perform a thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal. 22. The apparatus as in claim 21 wherein the thresholding operation comprises determining whether a membrane potential is higher than a threshold. 23. The apparatus as in claim 22 wherein the spike signal comprises a spike packet transferred to a plurality of fan-out connections with other neurons along with a neuron identifier (ID) of the selected neuron. 24. The apparatus as in claim 21 wherein stochastically generating the trigger signal comprises generating a random number usable to stochastically generate the trigger signal. 25. The apparatus as in claim 24 further comprising: means for comparing the random number to a reference value; and means for generating the trigger signal in response to the random number being lower than the reference value. 26. The apparatus as in claim 25 wherein the reference value is programmable to modify a frequency of the trigger signal. 27. The apparatus as claim 21 further comprising: means for incrementing the counter value in response to the trigger signal, the counter value usable to generate a neuron identifier (ID) for a neuron to perform the thresholding operation to determine whether to issue a spike signal. 28. The apparatus as in claim 27 further comprising: means for combining the counter value with a random offset value to generate the neuron ID. 29. The apparatus as in claim 21 wherein a subset of the neurons and at least one spike controller are integrated in a neuromorphic core. 30. The apparatus as in claim 20 further comprising: means for routing spike packets between neurons within a neuromorphic core and neurons in different neuromorphic cores.