Cross-Industry Hardware Specification to Accelerate AI Software Development
September 16, 2022 | IntelEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Arm, Intel and Nvidia have jointly authored a paper describing an 8-bit floating point (FP8) specification and its two variants E5M2 and E4M3 to provide a common interchangeable format that works for both artificial intelligence (AI) training and inference. This cross-industry specification alignment will allow AI models to operate and perform consistently across hardware platforms, accelerating AI software development.
Computational requirements for AI have been growing at an exponential rate. New innovation is required across hardware and software to deliver computational throughput needed to advance AI.
One of the promising areas of research to address this growing compute gap is to reduce the numeric precision requirements for deep learning to improve memory and computational efficiencies. Reduced-precision methods exploit the inherent noise-resilient properties of deep neural networks to improve compute efficiency.
Intel plans to support this format specification across its AI product roadmap for CPUs, GPUs and other AI accelerators, including Habana® Gaudi® deep learning accelerators.
FP8 minimizes deviations from existing IEEE 754 floating point formats with a good balance between hardware and software to leverage existing implementations, accelerate adoption and improve developer productivity.
The guiding principle of this format proposal from Arm, Intel and Nvidia is to leverage conventions, concepts and algorithms built on IEEE standardization. This enables the greatest latitude for future AI innovation while still adhering to current industry conventions.
Suggested Items
ASMPT to Exhibit Smart Manufacturing at IPC APEX EXPO 2024
03/27/2024 | ASMPTWith its innovative, data-driven Intelligent Factory concept and a comprehensive hardware and software portfolio around SMT production, market and innovation leader ASMPT will be a major presence at the IPC APEX EXPO 2024, the industry’s main event in California.
Intel Announces New Program for AI PC Software Developers and Hardware Vendors
03/27/2024 | Intel CorporationIntel Corporation announced the creation of two new artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives as part of the AI PC Acceleration Program: the AI PC Developer Program and the addition of independent hardware vendors to the program.
EV Tech OEM Indigo Technologies Closes Strategic Investment From Foxconn To Accelerate Its Smart EVs Solutions
03/25/2024 | PRNewswireIndigo Technologies, a robotics focused Smart EV OEM with breakthrough road sensing SmartWheels™ invented by team out of MIT, today announced it has received a strategic investment from Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn).
Being the Best Design Engineer
03/21/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineDuring DesignCon 2024, I met with Bill Hargin, founder and CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of the stackup design software company Z-zero. In this interview, Bill discusses his stackup curriculum, what it takes to become a great design engineer, and why the best designers keep reading and challenging themselves constantly so they can stay on top of their game.
YAMAHA to Showcase Intelligent Factory Solutions at IPC APEX 2024
03/18/2024 | Yamaha RoboticsYamaha Motor Corporation’s Robotics Division will highlight an exciting array of new machines and technologies from April 9 – 11, 2024 at the IPC APEX 2024 trade show in the Anaheim Convention Center, Booth #2820.