arXiv:2508.09163cs.LGcs.AI2025-08被引 1

为物联网设备设计可调序列长度的低功耗神经网络,显著省电。

Energy-Efficient Stochastic Computing (SC) Neural Networks for Internet of Things Devices With Layer-Wise Adjustable Sequence Length (ASL)

  • 提出按层可调序列长度(ASL),实现稀疏化与精度平衡。
  • 在32nm芯片上实测,能耗和延迟降低超60%,精度几乎不变。
  • 适合资源受限的物联网边缘计算场景,尤其对能效敏感应用。

随机计算(SC)已成为在资源受限场景(如物联网)中部署神经网络的高效低功耗方案。通过将数值编码为串行比特流,相比传统浮点设计显著降低能耗;然而,针对SC神经网络的逐层混合精度实现仍待探索。本文提出可调序列长度(ASL)新方案,将混合精度思想引入SC NNs。基于算子范数的理论模型表明,截断噪声会随层间传播,其放大因子可被估算。通过随机森林回归进行扩展敏感性分析,验证了理论预测与实际网络行为的一致性。为适配不同应用场景,提出粗粒度与细粒度两种截断策略,可在各层配置不同序列长度。在32nm工艺下合成的流水线式SC MLP上的评估显示,ASL可使能量和延迟开销降低超过60%,且精度损失可忽略。该结果证实了ASL在物联网应用中的可行性,并凸显了在SC设计中采用混合精度截断的优势。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Stochastic computing (SC) has emerged as an efficient low-power alternative for deploying neural networks (NNs) in resource-limited scenarios, such as the Internet of Things (IoT). By encoding values as serial bitstreams, SC significantly reduces energy dissipation compared to conventional floating-point (FP) designs; however, further improvement of layer-wise mixed-precision implementation for SC remains unexplored. This article introduces Adjustable Sequence Length (ASL), a novel scheme that applies mixed-precision concepts specifically to SC NNs. By introducing an operator-norm-based theoretical model, this article shows that truncation noise can cumulatively propagate through the layers by the estimated amplification factors. An extended sensitivity analysis is presented, using random forest (RF) regression to evaluate multilayer truncation effects and validate the alignment of theoretical predictions with practical network behaviors. To accommodate different application scenarios, this article proposes two truncation strategies (coarse-grained and fine-grained), which apply diverse sequence length configurations at each layer. Evaluations on a pipelined SC MLP synthesized at 32nm demonstrate that ASL can reduce energy and latency overheads by up to over 60% with negligible accuracy loss. It confirms the feasibility of the ASL scheme for IoT applications and highlights the distinct advantages of mixed-precision truncation in SC designs.

低功耗神经网络物联网随机计算

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