Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The advancement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) enables early detection of numerous disasters. Efforts have been made to automate the monitoring of data from UAVs, with machine learning methods recently attracting significant interest. These solutions often face challenges with high computational...

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Main Authors: Yu-Pei Liang, Chen-Ming Chang, Ching-Che Chung
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-04-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/7/2265
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author Yu-Pei Liang
Chen-Ming Chang
Ching-Che Chung
author_facet Yu-Pei Liang
Chen-Ming Chang
Ching-Che Chung
author_sort Yu-Pei Liang
collection DOAJ
description The advancement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) enables early detection of numerous disasters. Efforts have been made to automate the monitoring of data from UAVs, with machine learning methods recently attracting significant interest. These solutions often face challenges with high computational costs and energy usage. Conventionally, data from UAVs are processed using cloud computing, where they are sent to the cloud for analysis. However, this method might not meet the real-time needs of disaster relief scenarios. In contrast, edge computing provides real-time processing at the site but still struggles with computational and energy efficiency issues. To overcome these obstacles and enhance resource utilization, this paper presents a convolutional neural network (CNN) model with an early exit mechanism designed for fire detection in UAVs. This model is implemented using TSMC 40 nm CMOS technology, which aids in hardware acceleration. Notably, the neural network has a modest parameter count of 11.2 k. In the hardware computation part, the CNN circuit completes fire detection in approximately 230,000 cycles. Power-gating techniques are also used to turn off inactive memory, contributing to reduced power consumption. The experimental results show that this neural network reaches a maximum accuracy of 81.49% in the hardware implementation stage. After automatic layout and routing, the CNN hardware accelerator can operate at 300 MHz, consuming 117 mW of power.
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spelling doaj.art-8c92140835ce40eda1f8a889b0266cb82024-04-12T13:26:37ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202024-04-01247226510.3390/s24072265Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial VehiclesYu-Pei Liang0Chen-Ming Chang1Ching-Che Chung2Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Advanced Institute of Manufacturing with High-Tech Innovations, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi 621301, TaiwanDepartment of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Advanced Institute of Manufacturing with High-Tech Innovations, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi 621301, TaiwanDepartment of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Advanced Institute of Manufacturing with High-Tech Innovations, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi 621301, TaiwanThe advancement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) enables early detection of numerous disasters. Efforts have been made to automate the monitoring of data from UAVs, with machine learning methods recently attracting significant interest. These solutions often face challenges with high computational costs and energy usage. Conventionally, data from UAVs are processed using cloud computing, where they are sent to the cloud for analysis. However, this method might not meet the real-time needs of disaster relief scenarios. In contrast, edge computing provides real-time processing at the site but still struggles with computational and energy efficiency issues. To overcome these obstacles and enhance resource utilization, this paper presents a convolutional neural network (CNN) model with an early exit mechanism designed for fire detection in UAVs. This model is implemented using TSMC 40 nm CMOS technology, which aids in hardware acceleration. Notably, the neural network has a modest parameter count of 11.2 k. In the hardware computation part, the CNN circuit completes fire detection in approximately 230,000 cycles. Power-gating techniques are also used to turn off inactive memory, contributing to reduced power consumption. The experimental results show that this neural network reaches a maximum accuracy of 81.49% in the hardware implementation stage. After automatic layout and routing, the CNN hardware accelerator can operate at 300 MHz, consuming 117 mW of power.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/7/2265unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)fire detectionneural networksquantizationfixed-point arithmeticreal-time systems
spellingShingle Yu-Pei Liang
Chen-Ming Chang
Ching-Che Chung
Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Sensors
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
fire detection
neural networks
quantization
fixed-point arithmetic
real-time systems
title Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_full Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_fullStr Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_full_unstemmed Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_short Implementation of Lightweight Convolutional Neural Networks with an Early Exit Mechanism Utilizing 40 nm CMOS Process for Fire Detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_sort implementation of lightweight convolutional neural networks with an early exit mechanism utilizing 40 nm cmos process for fire detection in unmanned aerial vehicles
topic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
fire detection
neural networks
quantization
fixed-point arithmetic
real-time systems
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/7/2265
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