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Analysis

This survey paper provides a comprehensive overview of hardware acceleration techniques for deep learning, addressing the growing importance of efficient execution due to increasing model sizes and deployment diversity. It's valuable for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the landscape of hardware accelerators, optimization strategies, and open challenges in the field.
Reference

The survey reviews the technology landscape for hardware acceleration of deep learning, spanning GPUs and tensor-core architectures; domain-specific accelerators (e.g., TPUs/NPUs); FPGA-based designs; ASIC inference engines; and emerging LLM-serving accelerators such as LPUs (language processing units), alongside in-/near-memory computing and neuromorphic/analog approaches.

Analysis

The article analyzes NVIDIA's strategic move to acquire Groq for $20 billion, highlighting the company's response to the growing threat from Google's TPUs and the broader shift in AI chip paradigms. The core argument revolves around the limitations of GPUs in handling the inference stage of AI models, particularly the decode phase, where low latency is crucial. Groq's LPU architecture, with its on-chip SRAM, offers significantly faster inference speeds compared to GPUs and TPUs. However, the article also points out the trade-offs, such as the smaller memory capacity of LPUs, which necessitates a larger number of chips and potentially higher overall hardware costs. The key question raised is whether users are willing to pay for the speed advantage offered by Groq's technology.
Reference

GPU architecture simply cannot meet the low-latency needs of the inference market; off-chip HBM memory is simply too slow.