research-article

NeuroSim: A Circuit-Level Macro Model for Benchmarking Neuro-Inspired Architectures in Online Learning

Authors:

Shimeng YuAuthors Info & Claims

IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, Volume 37, Issue 12

Pages 3067 - 3080

https://doi.org/10.1109/TCAD.2018.2789723

Published: 01 December 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Neuro-inspired architectures based on synaptic memory arrays have been proposed for on-chip acceleration of weighted sum and weight update in machine/deep learning algorithms. In this paper, we developed NeuroSim, a circuit-level macro model that estimates the area, latency, dynamic energy, and leakage power to facilitate the design space exploration of neuro-inspired architectures with mainstream and emerging device technologies. NeuroSim provides flexible interface and a wide variety of design options at the circuit and device level. Therefore, NeuroSim can be used by neural networks (NNs) as a supporting tool to provide circuit-level performance evaluation. With NeuroSim, an integrated framework can be built with hierarchical organization from the device level (synaptic device properties) to the circuit level (array architectures) and then to the algorithm level (NN topology), enabling instruction-accurate evaluation on the learning accuracy as well as the circuit-level performance metrics at the run-time of online learning. Using multilayer perceptron as a case-study algorithm, we investigated the impact of the “analog” emerging nonvolatile memory (eNVM)’s “nonideal” device properties and benchmarked the tradeoffs between SRAM, digital, and analog eNVM-based architectures for online learning and offline classification.

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NeuroSim: A Circuit-Level Macro Model for Benchmarking Neuro-Inspired Architectures in Online Learning

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cover image IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems

IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems Volume 37, Issue 12

Dec. 2018

254 pages

ISSN:0278-0070

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0278-0070 © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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Published: 01 December 2018

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Cited By

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3709695
Liu CWu KLiu HJin HLiao XDuan ZXu JLi HZhang YYang J(2025)A ReRAM-Based Processing-In-Memory Architecture for Hyperdimensional ComputingIEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems10.1109/TCAD.2024.344581244:2(512-524)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2025
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