International Business Machines Corporation
Integrator voltage shifting for improved performance in softmax operation

Abstract:

An apparatus and method are provided for saturation prevention of a current integrator in a Resistive Processing Unit-based (RPU-based) accelerator. The apparatus includes a set of hardware switches. The apparatus further includes a voltage generator, operatively coupled between an input terminal and an output terminal of the current integrator, reducing a magnitude of an output voltage at the output terminal of the current integrator during a current integration operation by selectively applying a non-zero initial voltage to the current integrator prior to the current integration operation, responsive to an operating state of the set of hardware switches.