Hardware accelerator extension to transfer learning - extending/finishing training to the edge

An edge device connected to a remote computer system over a network, the edge device comprising:

• a hardware accelerator comprising:
• one or more communication buses,
• dedicated neural network processing unit executing a domain independent portion of a trained neural network, and
• one or more processors executing a domain dependent portion of the trained neural network connected to the domain independent portion over the communication buses,
• wherein the domain dependent portion is re-trained by the processors using data collected at the edge device.

A system for training a neural network, the system comprising:

• a computer configured to divide a neural network into a domain independent portion and a domain dependent portion, wherein at least the domain independent portion is pre-trained;
• an edge device configured to:
• receive the domain independent portion and domain dependent portion from the computer via a network,
• deploy the domain independent portion of the neural network onto a dedicated neural network processing unit of the hardware accelerator of the edge device,
• deploy the domain dependent portion of the neural network onto one or more additional processors of the hardware accelerator of the edge device,
• train the domain dependent portion on the additional processors of the hardware accelerator using data collected at the edge device, and
• following the deployments and the retraining, use the domain independent portion and the domain dependent portion to perform one or more tasks.

A system for training a neural network, the system comprising:

• a computer configured to divide a neural network into a domain independent portion and a domain dependent portion, wherein at least the domain independent portion is pre-trained;
• an edge device configured to:
• receive the domain independent portion from the computer via a network,
• deploy the domain independent portion of the neural network onto a dedicated neural network processing unit of the hardware accelerator of the edge device,
• generate a new version of the domain dependent portion of the neural network onto one or more additional processors of the hardware accelerator of the edge device,
• train the new version of the domain dependent portion on the additional processors of the hardware accelerator using data collected at the edge device, and
• following the deployments and the training, use the new version of the domain independent portion and the domain dependent portion to perform one or more tasks.