Approximate High-Performance Computing: A Fast and Energy-Efficient Computing Paradigm in the Post-Moore Era

As we reach the limits of Moore’s law and the end of Dennard scaling, increased emphasis is being given to alternative system architectures and computing paradigms to achieve future performance improvements. Approximate computing, where accuracy is traded for performance, is a promising approach in the post-Moore era. However, for approximate computing to gain widespread acceptance in high-performance computing (HPC), three main considerations must be taken into account: accuracy, efficiency, and ease of use. This article discusses some of our recent work to address to tackle these issues and facilitate the adoption of approximate computing in HPC.