Safe Overclocking for CNN Accelerators Through Algorithm-Level Error Detection

In this article, we propose a technique for improving the efficiency of convolutional neural network hardware accelerators based on timing speculation (overclocking) and fault tolerance. We augment the accelerator with a lightweight error detection mechanism to protect against timing errors in convolution layers, enabling aggressive timing speculation. The error detection mechanism we have developed works at the algorithm-level, utilizing algebraic properties of the computation, allowing the full implementation to be realized using high-level synthesis tools. Our prototype on ZC706 demonstrated up to 60% higher throughput with negligible area overhead for various wordlength implementations.