International Business Machines Corporation
System and method for an error-aware runtime configurable memory hierarchy for improved energy efficiency

Abstract:

A method (and structure and computer product) to optimize an operation in a Neural Network Accelerator (NNAccel) that includes a hierarchy of neural network layers as computational stages for the NNAccel and a configurable hierarchy of memory modules including one or more on-chip Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM) modules and one or more Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) modules, where each memory module is controlled by a plurality of operational parameters that are adjustable by a controller of the NNAcc. The method includes detecting bit error rates of memory modules currently being used by the NNAccel and determining, by the controller, whether the detected bit error rates are sufficient for a predetermined threshold value for an accuracy of a processing of the NNAccel. One or more operational parameters of one or more memory modules are dynamically changed by the controller to move to a higher accuracy state when the accuracy is below the predetermined threshold value.