Exploiting Resiliency for Kernel-Wise CNN Approximation Enabled by Adaptive Hardware Design.

Research output: Contribution to book/Conference proceedings/Anthology/ReportConference contributionContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Cecilia De la Parra - , Robert Bosch GmbH (Author)
  • Ahmed El-Yamany - (Author)
  • Taha Soliman - (Author)
  • Akash Kumar - , Chair of Processor Design (cfaed) (Author)
  • Norbert Wehn - (Author)
  • Andre Guntoro - (Author)

Abstract

Efficient low-power accelerators for Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) largely benefit from quantization and approximation, which are typically applied layer-wise for efficient hardware implementation. In this work, we present a novel strategy for efficient combination of these concepts at a deeper level, which is at each channel or kernel. We first apply layer-wise, low bit-width, linear quantization and truncation-based approximate multipliers to the CNN computation. Then, based on a state-of-the-art resiliency analysis, we are able to apply a kernel-wise approximation and quantization scheme with negligible accuracy losses, without further retraining. Our proposed strategy is implemented in a specialized framework for fast design space exploration. This optimization leads to a boost in estimated power savings of up to 34% in residual CNN architectures for image classification, compared to the base quantized architecture.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2021 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, ISCAS 2021 - Proceedings
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Number of pages5
ISBN (print)978-1-7281-9201-7
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

Publication series

SeriesIEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)
ISSN0271-4302

External IDs

Scopus 85109007056

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • AI accelerator, Approximate computing, CNN inference, Kernel-wise optimization, Resiliency