Evolution of Kernels: Automated RISC-V Kernel Optimization with Large Language Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Siyuan, Lu, Zhichao, Zhang, Qingfu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Siyuan
Lu, Zhichao
Zhang, Qingfu
author_facet Chen, Siyuan
Lu, Zhichao
Zhang, Qingfu
contents Automated kernel design is critical for overcoming software ecosystem barriers in emerging hardware platforms like RISC-V. While large language models (LLMs) have shown promise for automated kernel optimization, demonstrating success in CUDA domains with comprehensive technical documents and mature codebases, their effectiveness remains unproven for reference-scarce domains like RISC-V. We present Evolution of Kernels (EoK), a novel LLM-based evolutionary program search framework that automates kernel design for domains with limited reference material. EoK mitigates reference scarcity by mining and formalizing reusable optimization ideas (general design principles + actionable thoughts) from established kernel libraries' development histories; it then guides parallel LLM explorations using these ideas, enriched via Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with RISC-V-specific context, prioritizing historically effective techniques. Empirically, EoK achieves a median 1.27x speedup, surpassing human experts on all 80 evaluated kernel design tasks and improving upon prior LLM-based automated kernel design methods by 20%. These results underscore the viability of incorporating human experience into emerging domains and highlight the immense potential of LLM-based automated kernel optimization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_14265
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evolution of Kernels: Automated RISC-V Kernel Optimization with Large Language Models
Chen, Siyuan
Lu, Zhichao
Zhang, Qingfu
Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
Automated kernel design is critical for overcoming software ecosystem barriers in emerging hardware platforms like RISC-V. While large language models (LLMs) have shown promise for automated kernel optimization, demonstrating success in CUDA domains with comprehensive technical documents and mature codebases, their effectiveness remains unproven for reference-scarce domains like RISC-V. We present Evolution of Kernels (EoK), a novel LLM-based evolutionary program search framework that automates kernel design for domains with limited reference material. EoK mitigates reference scarcity by mining and formalizing reusable optimization ideas (general design principles + actionable thoughts) from established kernel libraries' development histories; it then guides parallel LLM explorations using these ideas, enriched via Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with RISC-V-specific context, prioritizing historically effective techniques. Empirically, EoK achieves a median 1.27x speedup, surpassing human experts on all 80 evaluated kernel design tasks and improving upon prior LLM-based automated kernel design methods by 20%. These results underscore the viability of incorporating human experience into emerging domains and highlight the immense potential of LLM-based automated kernel optimization.
title Evolution of Kernels: Automated RISC-V Kernel Optimization with Large Language Models
topic Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14265