Data compaction and memory bandwidth reduction for sparse neural networks

A system, comprising:

• a deep learning accelerator configured to:
• receive, at a compaction engine, multi-bit data for input to a processing element;
• determine that the multi-bit data equals zero;
• and
• transmit a single bit signal from the compaction engine to the processing element in lieu of the multi-bit data, wherein the single bit signal indicates that the multi-bit data equals zero.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, at a memory interface, a compacted data sequence for input to a processing element;
• transmitting the compacted data sequence from the memory interface to an expansion engine;
• extracting, by the expansion engine, non-zero values from the compacted data sequence;
• inserting zeros between the non-zero values to generate an expanded data sequence;
• and
• outputting the expanded data sequence from the expansion engine to the processing element.

A system, comprising:

• a memory storing a compacted data sequence;
• and
• a deep learning accelerator configured to:
• receive the compacted data sequence from the memory for input to a processing element;
• and
• transmit the compacted data sequence from the memory interface to an expansion engine, wherein the expansion engine:
• extracts non-zero values from the compacted data sequence and
• inserts zeros between the non-zero values to generate an expanded data sequence that is output by the expansion engine to the processing element.

A system, comprising:

• a memory storing a compacted data sequence;
• and
• a deep learning accelerator configured to:
• receive the compacted data sequence from the memory for input to a processing element;
• and
• transmit the compacted data sequence from the memory interface to an expansion engine, wherein the expansion engine:
• determines that the multi-bit data encoded in the compacted data sequence equals zero;
• and
• transmits a single bit signal to the processing element in lieu of the multi-bit data, wherein the single bit signal indicates that the multi-bit data equals zero.