The Software Defined Architectures (SODA) Synthesizer is an open-source compiler-based tool able to automatically generate domain-specialized systems targeting Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) starting from high-level programming. SODA is composed of a frontend, SODA-OPT, which leverages the multilevel intermediate representation (MLIR) framework to interface with productive programming tools (e.g., machine learning frameworks), identify kernels suitable for acceleration, and perform high-level optimizations, and of a state-of-the-art high-level synthesis backend, Bambu from the PandA framework, to generate custom accelerators. One specific application of the SODA Synthesizer is the generation of accelerators to enable ultra-low latency inference and control on autonomous systems for scientific discovery (e.g., electron microscopes, sensors in particle accelerators, etc.). This paper provides an overview of the flow in the context of the generation of accelerators for edge processing to be integrated in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) devices, focusing on use cases from precision material synthesis. We show the tool in action with an example of design space exploration for inference on reconfigurable devices with a conventional deep neural network model (LeNet). Finally, we discuss the research directions and opportunities enabled by SODA in the area of autonomous control for scientific experimental workflows.

Novel "converged" applications combine phases of scientific simulation with data analysis and machine learning. Each computational phase can benefit from specialized accelerators. However, algorithms evolve so quickly that mapping them on existing accelerators is suboptimal or even impossible. This paper presents the SODA (Software Defined Accelerators) framework, a modular, multi-level, open-source, no-human-in-the-loop, hardware synthesizer that enables end-to-end generation of specialized accelerators. SODA is composed of SODA-Opt, a high-level frontend developed in MLIR that interfaces with domain-specific programming frameworks and allows performing system level design, and Bambu, a state-of-the-art high-level synthesis engine that can target different device technologies. The framework implements design space exploration as compiler optimization passes. We show how the modular, yet tight, integration of the high-level optimizer and lower-level HLS tools enables the generation of accelerators optimized for the computational patterns of converged applications. We then discuss some of the research opportunities that such a framework allows, including system-level design, profile driven optimization, and supporting new optimization metrics.

Presents a powerpoint on the topic of high level frameworks to custom silicon with SODA.

The generation of custom hardware accelerators for applications implemented within high-level productive programming frameworks requires considerable manual effort. To automate this process, we introduce SODA-OPT, a compiler tool that extends the MLIR infrastructure. SODA-OPT automatically searches, outlines, tiles, and pre-optimizes relevant code regions to generate high-quality accelerators through high-level synthesis. SODA-OPT can support any high-level programming framework and domain-specific language that interface with the MLIR infrastructure. By leveraging MLIR, SODA-OPT solves compiler optimization problems with specialized abstractions. Backend synthesis tools connect to SODA-OPT through progressive intermediate representation lowerings. SODA-OPT interfaces to a design space exploration engine to identify the combination of compiler optimization passes and options that provides high-performance generated designs for different backends and targets. We demonstrate the practical applicability of the compilation flow by exploring the automatic generation of accelerators for deep neural networks operators outlined at arbitrary granularity and by combining outlining with tiling on large convolution layers. Experimental results with kernels from the PolyBench benchmark show that our high-level optimizations improve execution delays of synthesized accelerators up to 60x. We also show that for the selected kernels, our solution outperforms the current of state-of-the art in more than 70% of the benchmarks and provides better average speedup in 55% of them. SODA-OPT is an open source project available at https://gitlab.pnnl.gov/sodalite/soda-opt.

Domain-specific designs offer greater energy efficiency and performance gain than general-purpose processors. For this reason, modern system-on-chips have a significant portion of their silicon area with custom accelerators. However, designing hardware by hand is laborious and time-consuming, given the large design space and the performance, power, and area constraints that are not realized in the software. Moreover, domain-specific algorithms (e.g., machine learning models) are evolving quickly, challenging the accelerator design further. To address these issues, this paper presents SODA Synthesizer, an automated open-source high-level ML framework to Verilog modular compiler targeting AI/ML Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) accelerators. SODA tightly couples the Multi-Level Intermediate Representation (MLIR) compiler infrastructure [24] and open-source HLS approaches. Thus, SODA can support various ML frameworks and algorithms and can perform optimizations that combine specialized architecture templates and conventional HLS to generate the hardware modules. In addition, SODA’s closed-loop design space exploration (DSE) engine allows developers to perform end-to-end design space explorations on different metrics and technology nodes.

The growing numbers of application areas for artificial intelligence (AI) methods have led to an explosion in availability of domain-specific accelerators, which struggle to support every new machine learning (ML) algorithm advancement, clearly highlighting the need for a tool to quickly and automatically transition from algorithm definition to hardware implementation and explore the design space along a variety of SWaP (size, weight and Power) metrics. The software defined architectures (SODA) synthesizer implements a modular compiler-based infrastructure for the end-to-end generation of machine learning accelerators, from high-level frameworks to hardware description language. Neuromorphic computing, mimicking how the brain operates, promises to perform artificial intelligence tasks at efficiencies orders-of-magnitude higher than the current conventional tensor-processing based accelerators, as demonstrated by a variety of specialized designs leveraging Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs). Nevertheless, the mapping of an artificial neural network (ANN) to solutions supporting SNNs is still a non-trivial and very device-specific task, and completely lacks the possibility to design hybrid systems that integrate conventional and spiking neural models. In this paper, we discuss the design of such an integrated generator, leveraging the SODA Synthesizer framework and its modular structure. In particular, we present a new MLIR dialect in the SODA frontend that allows expressing spiking neural network concepts (e.g., spiking sequences, transformation, and manipulation) and we discuss how to enable the mapping of spiking neurons to the related specialized hardware (which could be generated through middle-end and backend layers of the SODA Synthesizer). We then discuss the opportunities for further integration offered by the hardware compilation infrastructure, providing a path towards the generation of complex hybrid artificial intelligence systems.

Next generation systems, such as edge devices, will need to provide efficient processing of machine learning (ML) algorithms along several metrics, including energy, performance, area, and latency. However, the quickly evolving field of ML makes it extremely difficult to generate accelerators able to support a wide variety of algorithms. At the same time, designing accelerators in hardware description languages (HDLs) by hand is hard and time consuming, and does not allow quick exploration of the design space. In this paper we present the Software Defined Accelerators From Learning Tools Environment (SODALITE), an automated open source high-level ML framework-to-verilog compiler targeting ML Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) chiplets. The SODALITE approach will implement optimal designs by seamlessly combining custom components generated through high-level synthesis (HLS) with templated and fully tunable Intellectual Properties (IPs) and macros, integrated in an extendable resource library. Through a closed loop design space exploration engine, developers will be able to quickly explore their hardware designs along different dimensions.

Next-generation systems, such as edge devices, will have to provide efficient processing of machine learning (ML) algorithms, along with several metrics, including energy, performance, area, and latency. However, the quickly evolving field of ML makes it extremely difficult to generate accelerators able to support a wide variety of algorithms. Simultaneously, designing accelerators in hardware description languages (HDLs) by hand is laborious and time-consuming, and does not allow quick exploration of the design space. This paper discusses the SODA synthesizer, an automated open-source high-level ML framework-to-Verilog compiler targeting ML Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) chiplets based on the LLVM infrastructure. The SODA synthesizers will allow implementing optimal designs by combining templated and fully tunable IPs and macros, and fully custom components generated through high-level synthesis. All these components will be provided through an extendable resource library, characterized by commercial and open-source logic design flows. Through a closed-loop design space exploration engine, developers will quickly explore their hardware designs along different dimensions.