Phantom 2D Accelerator

Phantom 2D accelerators are specialized hardware designed to efficiently process sparse convolutional neural networks (CNNs), aiming to improve the speed and energy efficiency of deep learning computations. Current research focuses on optimizing architectures for various CNN layers (including those with non-unit strides) and employing techniques like dynamic thread scheduling and multi-level load balancing to maximize hardware utilization. These advancements are significant because they address the limitations of existing accelerators in handling the irregular data structures inherent in sparse CNNs, leading to improved performance in applications ranging from image recognition to robotic control.

Papers