Affiliation:
1. University of Michigan
Abstract
Stochastic computing (SC) was proposed in the 1960s as a low-cost alternative to conventional binary computing. It is unique in that it represents and processes information in the form of digitized probabilities. SC employs very low-complexity arithmetic units which was a primary design concern in the past. Despite this advantage and also its inherent error tolerance, SC was seen as impractical because of very long computation times and relatively low accuracy. However, current technology trends tend to increase uncertainty in circuit behavior and imply a need to better understand, and perhaps exploit, probability in computation. This article surveys SC from a modern perspective where the small size, error resilience, and probabilistic features of SC may compete successfully with conventional methodologies in certain applications. First, we survey the literature and review the key concepts of stochastic number representation and circuit structure. We then describe the design of SC-based circuits and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we give examples of the potential applications of SC and discuss some practical problems that are yet to be solved.
Funder
Division of Computing and Communication Foundations
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Subject
Hardware and Architecture,Software
Cited by
353 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献