Abstract
In recent years, approximate computing (AC) has attracted attention owing to its tradeoff between the exactness of computations and performance gains. AC has also been probed for the technique of Triple modular redundancy (TMR). TMR is a well-known fault masking methodology, with associated overheads, widely used in systems of different nature and at different levels. E.g.: layout-level, gate-level, HW-module level, software. At hardware level, through exploitation of AC the 200% area overhead problem due to triplication of the original modules in TMR can be reduced. By approximating the modules of TMR while ensuring that at least two of the approximate modules do not differ from the original module for every input vector, the facilitation of fault masking can lead to overhead reduction. Hence, approximate TMR (ATMR) aims to achieve cost-effective reliability. Nevertheless, due to the extensive search space, computational complexity, and principal fault masking function of ATMR, designing an ATMR is a challenging task. An ATMR technique must be scalable so that it can be easily adopted by circuits having large number of inputs and the extraction of ATMR modules remains computationally inexpensive. Compared with TMR, due to the inclusion of approximations, ATMR is more vulnerable to errors, and hence, the design technique must ensure awareness of input-criticality. To the best of the authors' knowledge, none of the existing survey articles on AC has reported on ATMR. Therefore, in this work, ATMR design techniques are thoroughly surveyed and qualitatively compared. Moreover, design considerations and challenges for designing ATMR are discussed.
Highlights
Approximate computing (AC) is an emerging technology that allows the inexactness, and approximation of output where the required numerical exactness is governed by the error resilience threshold of the application under consideration
Fault masking performed by approximate TMR (ATMR) introduces inherent complexity to the design technique
In this study, several existing ATMR design techniques were surveyed in detail
Summary
Approximate computing (AC) is an emerging technology that allows the inexactness, and approximation of output where the required numerical exactness is governed by the error resilience threshold of the application under consideration. Based on the implementation level, the work of [8], grouped up approximation computing techniques as: software, architecture, and hardware. It is critical to express and distinguish between approximable and inapproximable regions in the design space at the hardware and software levels This can be achieved through diverse means such as automation and output quality monitoring. As AC involves outputs of non-golden standard for achieving efficiency optimization through quality configurability, error detection and correction techniques employ AC Example of such applications are the recognition, mining, and synthesis (RMS) applications which utilize nonconventional input sources (e.g., sensors). The ATMR methods are thoroughly surveyed and qualitatively compared in terms of unique features, potential benefits, and limitations This comparison may aid researchers and engineers in selection of an appropriate ATMR technique based on their application requirements.
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