Neural Network Acceleration on MPSoC board: Integrating SLAC's SNL, Rogue Software and Auto-SNL

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Main Authors: Rahali, Hamza Ezzaoui, Dave, Abhilasha, Ruckman, Larry, Rahimifar, Mohammad Mehdi, Therrien, Audrey C., Russel, James J., Herbst, Ryan T.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Rahali, Hamza Ezzaoui
Dave, Abhilasha
Ruckman, Larry
Rahimifar, Mohammad Mehdi
Therrien, Audrey C.
Russel, James J.
Herbst, Ryan T.
author_facet Rahali, Hamza Ezzaoui
Dave, Abhilasha
Ruckman, Larry
Rahimifar, Mohammad Mehdi
Therrien, Audrey C.
Russel, James J.
Herbst, Ryan T.
contents The LCLS-II Free Electron Laser (FEL) will generate X-ray pulses for beamline experiments at rates of up to 1~MHz, with detectors producing data throughputs exceeding 1 TB/s. Managing such massive data streams presents significant challenges, as transmission and storage infrastructures become prohibitively expensive. Machine learning (ML) offers a promising solution for real-time data reduction, but conventional implementations introduce excessive latency, making them unsuitable for high-speed experimental environments. To address these challenges, SLAC developed the SLAC Neural Network Library (SNL), a specialized framework designed to deploy real-time ML inference models on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). SNL's key feature is the ability to dynamically update model weights without requiring FPGA resynthesis, enhancing flexibility for adaptive learning applications. To further enhance usability and accessibility, we introduce Auto-SNL, a Python extension that streamlines the process of converting Python-based neural network models into SNL-compatible high-level synthesis code. This paper presents a benchmark comparison against hls4ml, the current state-of-the-art tool, across multiple neural network architectures, fixed-point precisions, and synthesis configurations targeting a Xilinx ZCU102 FPGA. The results showed that SNL achieves competitive or superior latency in most tested architectures, while in some cases also offering FPGA resource savings. This adaptation demonstrates SNL's versatility, opening new opportunities for researchers and academics in fields such as high-energy physics, medical imaging, robotics, and many more.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_21739
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Neural Network Acceleration on MPSoC board: Integrating SLAC's SNL, Rogue Software and Auto-SNL
Rahali, Hamza Ezzaoui
Dave, Abhilasha
Ruckman, Larry
Rahimifar, Mohammad Mehdi
Therrien, Audrey C.
Russel, James J.
Herbst, Ryan T.
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Hardware Architecture
The LCLS-II Free Electron Laser (FEL) will generate X-ray pulses for beamline experiments at rates of up to 1~MHz, with detectors producing data throughputs exceeding 1 TB/s. Managing such massive data streams presents significant challenges, as transmission and storage infrastructures become prohibitively expensive. Machine learning (ML) offers a promising solution for real-time data reduction, but conventional implementations introduce excessive latency, making them unsuitable for high-speed experimental environments. To address these challenges, SLAC developed the SLAC Neural Network Library (SNL), a specialized framework designed to deploy real-time ML inference models on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). SNL's key feature is the ability to dynamically update model weights without requiring FPGA resynthesis, enhancing flexibility for adaptive learning applications. To further enhance usability and accessibility, we introduce Auto-SNL, a Python extension that streamlines the process of converting Python-based neural network models into SNL-compatible high-level synthesis code. This paper presents a benchmark comparison against hls4ml, the current state-of-the-art tool, across multiple neural network architectures, fixed-point precisions, and synthesis configurations targeting a Xilinx ZCU102 FPGA. The results showed that SNL achieves competitive or superior latency in most tested architectures, while in some cases also offering FPGA resource savings. This adaptation demonstrates SNL's versatility, opening new opportunities for researchers and academics in fields such as high-energy physics, medical imaging, robotics, and many more.
title Neural Network Acceleration on MPSoC board: Integrating SLAC's SNL, Rogue Software and Auto-SNL
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Hardware Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.21739