678343 event 1731401687 1731401764 <![CDATA[Ph.D. Dissertation Defense - Kwondo Ma]]> Title:  Error Resilient and Adaptive Deep Learning Systems

Committee:

Dr. Abhijit Chatterjee, ECE, Chair, Advisor

Dr. Amirali Aghazadeh, ECE

Dr. Callie Hao, ECE

Dr. Visvesh Sathe, ECE

Dr. Moinuddin Qureshi, CS

]]> s deep learning systems become integral to a wide array of applications, including autonomous systems, healthcare, and finance, their complexity and deployment in hardware bring new challenges. In particular, the susceptibility of deep learning systems to hardware-induced errors, manufacturing process variability, and resource constraints presents critical obstacles to their reliable and efficient operation. This dissertation addresses these issues by introducing methodologies that enhance error resilience, adaptability, and energy efficiency in deep learning systems. The motivation for this work stems from the increasing integration of deep learning systems into real-world applications where reliability and robustness are paramount. The inherent variability in hardware—such as resistive RAM (RRAM)—and the need for efficient testing and tuning processes highlight the need for adaptive systems that can mitigate the impact of these variabilities. Additionally, the demand for low-power, high-performance hardware accelerators in edge computing environments presents further challenges in balancing computational efficiency and energy consumption. In response to these challenges, this research proposes a signature-based predictive testing framework for detecting performance degradation caused by process variability in hardware implementations of deep neural networks (DNNs). This framework introduces a compact, efficient testing mechanism that significantly improves the ability to identify defective devices during manufacturing, while also adapting to evolving manufacturing conditions through continuous retraining. Furthermore, a learning-assisted post-manufacture tuning framework is developed to optimize the performance of DNN accelerators, ensuring higher yields and greater reliability in fault-sensitive environments. This framework allows the system to adapt its tuning strategies over time, reducing the need for exhaustive retraining while maintaining operational efficiency. The dissertation also addresses the resilience of Transformer architectures to soft errors, a growing concern in high-performance applications such as natural language processing, and vision and image processing. The proposed approach combines error detection and suppression techniques to restore model performance under various error conditions, demonstrating the robustness of Transformer networks when deployed in real-world, error-prone environments. 

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