On the energy benefits of spiking deep neural networks: A case study

Deep learning neural networks have achieved success in a large number of visual processing tasks and are currently utilized for many real-world applications like image search and speech recognition among others. However, in spite of achieving high accuracy in such classification problems, they involve significant computational resources. Over the past few years, artificial neural network models have evolved into the biologically realistic and event-driven spiking neural networks. Recent research efforts have been directed at developing mechanisms to convert traditional deep artificial nets to spiking nets where the neurons communicate by means of spikes. However, there have been limited studies providing insights on the specific power, area and energy benefits offered by deep spiking neural nets in comparison to their non-spiking counterparts. In this paper, we perform a case study for a hardware implementation of a spiking/non-spiking deep net on the MNIST dataset and clearly outline the design prospects involved in implementing neural computing platforms in the spiking mode of operation.