Energy-Aware Scenario-Based Mapping of Deep Learning Applications Onto Heterogeneous Processors Under Real-Time Constraints

To cope with the increasing demand for deep learning applications in embedded systems, emerging embedded devices tend to equip multiple heterogeneous processors, including GPU and deep learning hardware accelerator, called neural processing unit (NPU). It becomes popular to run multiple deep learning (DL) applications simultaneously to provide several functionalities. In this work, we assume that applications have real-time constraints that may vary at run time. While extensive studies have been conducted recently to find an efficient mapping of multiple DL applications on various hardware platforms, they do not consider the constraints imposed by the NPU and the associated software development kit (SDK) in a real embedded platform. In this paper, we propose a novel energy-aware mapping methodology of multiple DL applications onto a real embedded system that has multiple heterogeneous processors. The objective is to minimize energy consumption while satisfying the real-time constraints of all applications. In the proposed scheme, we first select Pareto-optimal mapping solutions for each application. Then mapping combination is explored, considering the scenario that indicates the dynamism of applications while satisfying the constraints. Also, we reduce energy consumption by tuning the frequency of processors. We could satisfy up to 40% higher deadline constraints and reduce the energy consumption by 22% ∼ 31% compared to the static mapping methods with real-life applications and different scenarios on a real platform.