Enhancing stochastic computations via process variation

Abstract

Stochastic computing has emerged as a computational paradigm that offers arithmetic operators with high-performance, compact implementations and robust to errors by producing approximate results. This work addresses two of the major limitations for its implementation which affects its accuracy: the correlation between stochastic bitstreams and the unobserved signal transitions. A novel implementation of stochastic arithmetic building-blocks is proposed to improve the quality of the results. It relies on Self-Timed Ring-Oscillators to produce different clock signals with different clock frequencies, by taking advantage of the influence of process variation in the timing of the logic elements on the FPGA. This work also presents an automated test platform for stochastic systems, which was used to evaluate the impact of the proposed enhancements. Tests were performed to compare both proposed and typical implementations, on reconfigurable devices with 28nm and 60nm fabrication processes. Finally, presented results demonstrate that the proposed architectures subjected to the impact of process variation improve the quality of the results.