Approximate Computing for ML: State-of-the-art, Challenges and Visions

In this paper, we present our state-of-the-art approximate techniques that cover the main pillars of approximate computing research. Our analysis considers both static and reconfigurable approximation techniques as well as operation-specific approximate components (e.g., multipliers) and generalized approximate high-level synthesis approaches. As our application target, we discuss the improvements that such techniques bring on machine learning and neural networks. In addition to the conventionally analyzed performance and energy gains, we also evaluate the improvements that approximate computing brings in the operating temperature.