Computer Vision Design with HLS

Computer Vision Design with HLS
by Bernard Murphy on 08-21-2018 at 7:00 am

I’m on a mini-roll on the subject of high-level design for ML-based systems. No complaints from me, this is one of my favorite domains and is certainly a hot area; it’s great to that EDA vendors are so active in advancing ML-based design. Here I want to talk about the Catapult HLS flow for use in ML design.

Since I’ve covered the ML topic… Read More


Architecting an ML Design

Architecting an ML Design
by Bernard Murphy on 08-14-2018 at 7:00 am

Discussion on machine learning (ML) and hardware design has been picking up significantly in two fascinating areas: how ML can advance hardware design methods and how hardware design methods can advance building ML systems. Here I’ll talk about the latter, particularly about architecting ML-enabled SoCs. This approach is … Read More


Deep Learning: Diminishing Returns?

Deep Learning: Diminishing Returns?
by Bernard Murphy on 07-12-2018 at 7:00 am

Deep learning (DL) has become the oracle of our age – the universal technology we turn to for answers to almost any hard problem. This is not surprising; its strength in image and speech recognition, language processing and multiple other domains amaze and shock us, to the point that we’re now debating AI singularities. But then,… Read More


Tensilica Vision P6 DSP is Powering Huawei Kirin 970 Image

Tensilica Vision P6 DSP is Powering Huawei Kirin 970 Image
by Eric Esteve on 11-17-2017 at 7:00 am

Cadence has recently announced two key design-in for their Vision DSP IP family: MediaTek’s Helio P30 integrates the Tensilica Vision P5 DSP and HiSilicon has selected the Cadence® Tensilica® Vision P6 DSP for its 10nm Kirin 970 mobile application processor. The Kirin 970 being integrated into Huawei’s new Mate 10 Series mobile… Read More


Synopsys discusses the challenges of embedded vision processing

Synopsys discusses the challenges of embedded vision processing
by Tom Simon on 11-01-2017 at 12:00 pm

Before the advent of convolutional neural networks (CNN), image processing was done with algorithms like HOG, SIFT and SURF. This kind of work was frequently done in data centers and server farms. To facilitate mobile and embedded processing a new class of processors was developed – the vision processor. In addition to doing a … Read More


DSP-Based Neural Nets

DSP-Based Neural Nets
by Bernard Murphy on 10-24-2017 at 7:00 am

You may be under the impression that anything to do with neural nets necessarily runs on a GPU. After all, NVIDIA dominates a lot of what we hear in this area, and rightly so. In neural net training, their solutions are well established. However, GPUs tend to consume a lot of power and are not necessarily optimal in inference performance… Read More


Accelerating Accelerators

Accelerating Accelerators
by Bernard Murphy on 10-19-2017 at 7:00 am

Accelerating compute-intensive software functions by moving them into hardware has a long history, stretching back (as far as I remember) to floating-point co-processors. Modern SoCs are stuffed with these applications, from signal processors, to graphics processors, codecs and many more functions. All of these accelerators… Read More


Synopsys New EV6x Offers 4X More Performance to CNN

Synopsys New EV6x Offers 4X More Performance to CNN
by Eric Esteve on 07-11-2017 at 7:00 am

When Synopsys bought Virage Logic in 2010, ARC processor IP was in the basket, but at that time ARC processor core was not the most powerful on the market, and by far. The launch of EV6x vision processor sounds like Synopsys has moved ARC processor core by several orders of magnitude in term of processing power. EV6x deliver up to 4X … Read More


DAC 2017 Review

DAC 2017 Review
by Bernard Murphy on 06-15-2017 at 7:00 am

DAC is coming, next week, in beautiful downtown Austin at the Convention Center. I’ll be there Monday and Tuesday, running around the exhibit area. If you haven’t yet got your plane and hotel tickets, drop everything and start looking. I’m guessing this will be as popular as it always is, especially given the venue. I know of multiple… Read More


CPU, GPU, H/W Accelerator or DSP to Best Address CNN Algorithms?

CPU, GPU, H/W Accelerator or DSP to Best Address CNN Algorithms?
by Eric Esteve on 05-25-2017 at 7:00 am

If you read an article dealing with Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), you will probably hear about the battle between CPU and GPU, both off-the-shelf standard product. Addressing CNN processing needs with standard CPU or GPU is like having to sink a screw when you only have a hammer or a monkey wrench available. You can dissert… Read More