Optical Convolutional Neural Network With WDM-Based Optical Patching and Microring Weighting Banks

Abstract

We propose an optical convolutional neural network (OCNN) architecture for high-speed and energy-efficient deep learning accelerators. The WDM-based optical patching scheme (WDM-OPS) is adopted as the data-feeding structure for its superior energy efficiency and the microring banks are used for the large-scale weighting and summing (the computing core). We thoroughly investigate the performance (including prediction accuracy, speed, and energy efficiency) of this architecture in different system defects. The results indicate that, the prediction accuracy of OCNN can reach 97% in the MNIST dataset with a computing speed of over 100 TMAC/s on condition of achievable low insertion loss. It is also observed that the WDM-OPS notably reduces the energy consumption of the electro-optic modulation and thus the OCNN becomes an exceptionally energy-efficient architecture among several well-known optical architectures. In the evaluations, instead of merely considering the computing core, we take the holistic optical system including lasers, electro-optic modulators, data preprocessing, photodetection and transimpedance amplification into consideration. Therefore, this work provides a potential guide for the systematic implementation of the OCNN architecture.