FPGAs for Faster, Leaner Deep Learning: A Review of CNN Accelerators

Kari Jaaskelainen

— 1 min read
FPGAs for Faster, Leaner Deep Learning: A Review of CNN Accelerators

Deep learning drives image search, robots, and medical scans. Most systems lean on CPUs and GPUs. This review asks: what if we run convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on FPGAs—reconfigurable chips you can tailor to the model?

  • Why FPGAs: custom dataflows, low latency, and strong energy efficiency—great for cameras, drones, and other edge devices.
  • What’s covered: a clear primer on CNN layers and how to map convolutions onto hardware.
  • Survey: recent FPGA CNN accelerators, target tasks, and design choices (parallelism, data reuse, quantization).
  • Gotchas: under-used logic and limited memory bandwidth often bottleneck performance.

Takeaway: With smarter scheduling, better on-chip memory reuse, and tuned precision, FPGAs can deliver fast, efficient AI beyond the data center.

Review by Simin Liu. Paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/2012.12634v1

Paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/2012.12634v1

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#FPGA #DeepLearning #CNN #AI #EdgeAI #HardwareAcceleration #MLResearch

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