# Vela Options This file contains a more verbose and detailed description of the Vela Compiler's CLI options than the built-in help strings. It also defines and describes Vela's configuration file format. ## Command Line Interface ### Network (required) Filename of the network model to compile. The file has to be a `.tflite` file. **Type: POSIX path** **Default: N/A** ```bash vela path/to/network.tflite ``` ### Help Displays the help strings of all CLI options. Can be used without the required Network argument. **Type: N/A** **Default: N/A** ```bash vela --help ``` ### Version Displays the version of the installed Vela Compiler. Can be used without the required Network argument. **Type: N/A** **Default: N/A** ```bash vela --version ``` ### API version Displays the version of the external API. Can be used without the required Network argument. **Type: N/A** **Default: N/A** ```bash vela --api-version ``` ### Supported Operator Report Generate the SUPPORTED_OPS.md file in the current working directory. Contains a summary table for each supported network model format (TFLite/TOSA). The tables shows all the operators that can be placed on the NPU, and what the constraints are for that operator to be scheduled on the NPU. If the constraints are not met for a TFLite operator, then it will be scheduled on the CPU instead. For TOSA operators there are no fallback to the CPU. Note: There is limited support for compiling a TOSA neural network (EXPERIMENTAL). Can be used without the required Network argument. **Type: N/A** **Default: N/A** ```bash vela --supported-ops-report ``` ### List Configuration Files Displays the configuration files in the `ethosu/config_files` directory. All configuration files must have the .ini extension and be placed in an appropriately named directory under `ethosu/config_files`. Note that the file depth from `ethosu/config_files` must be exactly 2 for the file to be discovered (e.g. `config_files/directory_name/my_config_file.ini`). Can be used without the required Network argument. ```bash vela --list-config-files ``` ### Output Directory Specifies the output directory of the optimised network model as well as the `.csv` files containing performance estimations. **Type: POSIX path** **Default: ./output** ```bash vela network.tflite --output-dir ./custom_directory ``` ### Enable Debug Database The neural network debug database allows tracking of optimisations from the input network graph to the output command stream. Set this option to enable the calculation and writing of an XML file that contains the network debug database tables to the output directory. ```bash vela network.tflite --enable-debug-db ``` ### Config Specifies the path to the Vela configuration file. The format of the file is a Python ConfigParser `.ini` file. This option can be specified multiple times to allow multiple files to be searched for the required system config and memory mode. Custom configuration files can be used by adding a .ini file in an appropriate directory under the `ethosu/config_files` directory or by providing its absolute path. More details can be found in the Configuration File and List Configuration Files sections. **Type: POSIX path** **Default: use default configuration** ```bash vela network.tflite --config DirectoryName/my_vela_cfg1.ini --config absolute/path/to/my_vela_cfg2.ini --system-config My_Sys_Cfg --memory-mode My_Mem_Mode ``` ### Timing Measure time taken for different compiler steps, e.g. model reading and scheduling. Prints the results to standard out. ```bash vela network.tflite --timing ``` ### Force Symmetric Int Weights Forces symmetric quantization for signed integer weights. This means that all zero points are set to 0. This might lead to unintended behaviour. ```bash vela network.tflite --force-symmetric-int-weights ``` ### Accelerator Configuration Choose which hardware accelerator configuration to compile for. Format is accelerator name followed by a hyphen, followed by the number of MACs in the configuration. **Type: String** **Default: ethos-u55-256** **Choices: [ethos-u55-32, ethos-u55-64, ethos-u55-128, ethos-u55-256, ethos-u65-256, ethos-u65-512]** ```bash vela network.tflite --accelerator-config ethos-u55-64 ``` ### System Config Selects the system configuration to use as specified in the Vela configuration file (see section below). **Type: String** **Default: Use `internal-default` config. This maps to the following configs from the example `vela.ini` file** - **Ethos-U65** - System configuration Ethos-U65 Client-Server: SRAM (16 GB/s) and DRAM (12 GB/s) - **Ethos-U55** - System configuration Ethos-U55 High-End Embedded: SRAM (4 GB/s) and Flash (0.5 GB/s) ```bash vela network.tflite --config my_vela_cfg.ini --system-config My_Sys_Cfg ``` ### Memory Mode Selects the memory mode to use as specified in the Vela configuration file (see section below). **Type: String** **Default: Use `internal-default` config. This maps to the following configs from the example `vela.ini` file** - **Ethos-U65** - Memory mode Dedicated SRAM: the SRAM is only for use by the Ethos-U. The non-SRAM memory is assumed to be read-writeable - **Ethos-U55** - Memory mode Shared SRAM: the SRAM is shared between the Ethos-U and the Cortex-M software. The non-SRAM memory is assumed to be read-only ```bash vela network.tflite --config my_vela_cfg.ini --memory-mode My_Mem_Mode ``` ### Tensor Allocator Specify which allocator algorithm to use for non-constant NPU and CPU tensor allocation. **Type: String** **Default: HillClimb** **Choices: [Greedy, LinearAlloc, HillClimb]** ```bash vela network.tflite --tensor-allocator=LinearAlloc ``` ### Max Block Dependency Set the maximum value that can be used for the block dependency delay between NPU kernel operations. A lower value may result in longer execution time. **Type: Integer** **Default: 3** **Choices: [0, 1, 2, 3]** ```bash vela network.tflite --max-block-dependency 0 ``` ### Optimise Set the optimisation strategy. The Size strategy results in minimal SRAM usage (it does not use arena cache memory area size). The Performance strategy results in maximal performance (it uses the arena cache memory area size if specified either via the CLI option of Vela configuration file). **Type: String** **Default: Performance** **Choices: [Size, Performance]** ```bash vela network.tflite --optimise Size ``` ### Arena Cache Size Set the size of the arena cache memory area, in bytes. If specified, this option overrides the memory mode attribute with the same name in a Vela configuration file. If neither this nor the memory mode attribute are specified then a size equal to the maximum address supported by the Ethos-U is used. This option is intended to be used with the `--optimise Performance` option. **Type: Integer** **Choices: [ >= 0]** ```bash vela network.tflite --optimise Performance --arena-cache-size 2097152 ``` ### CPU Tensor Alignment Controls the allocation byte alignment. This affects all CPU tensors including Ethos-U Custom operator inputs and outputs. In this instance a CPU tensor is defined as any tensor that is explicitly listed in the resulting `.tflite` file. The Ethos-U NPU internal tensors will remain 16-byte aligned independent of this option, these tensors are contained within the command stream. Alignment has to be a power of two and greater or equal to 16. **Type: Integer** **Default: 16** ```bash vela network.tflite --cpu-tensor-alignment 128 ``` ### Recursion Limit Sets the Python internal limit to depth of recursion. It may be necessary to increase this from the default for very large networks due to the recursive nature of the graph traversal algorithm. If Vela fails with a `RecursionError`, try increasing the limit using this option to see if it resolves the issue. Please note that this option may not work as intended on Microsoft Windows systems, as there is a hard limit on thread stack size. **Type: Integer** **Default: 1000** ```bash vela network.tflite --recursion-limit 2000 ``` ### HillClimb Max Iterations Sets the maximum number of iterations the Hill Climb tensor allocator will run. This is a hard limit on the total number of iterations of the algorithm. Reducing this value is unlikely to reduce the compilation time of a working solution, and it may cause the algorithm to terminate before finding a workable solution. **Type: Integer** **Default: 99999** ```bash vela network.tflite --hillclimb-max-iterations 1000 ``` ## Verbose Print Options All of the options below are disabled by default and enabling them will add prints to standard out without any functional changes. ### Show Cpu Operations Show the operations that fall back to the CPU. ```bash vela network.tflite --show-cpu-operations ``` ### Show Subgraph IO Summary Prints a summary of all the subgraphs and their inputs and outputs. ```bash vela network.tflite --show-subgraph-io-summary ``` ### Verbose All Enable all `--verbose-*` options. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-all ``` ### Verbose Config Verbose system configuration and memory mode. If no `--system-config` or `--memory-mode` CLI options are specified then the `internal-default` values will be displayed. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-config ``` ### Verbose Graph Displays two lists of operators. The first lists all of the operators that exist in Vela's internal representation (Graph IR) of the Neural Network Graph (NNG) before the graph optimisation process has run. The second lists all of the operators after that process. The lists do not show the connectivity information of the NNG and are unordered, therefore the execution order may differ. Each line in the list is of the format: ` `, where; num = an increasing operator count op_type = the Graph IR Operator Type op_name = the Graph IR Operator Name (this may have been derived from the corresponding TFLite operator name) ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-graph ``` ### Verbose Quantization Displays quantization information of all *weight*, *bias*, *input* and *output* tensors for each operator in the Neural Network Graph (NNG). The quantization approximates floating point values as: `approx_float_value = (integer_value - zero_point) * scale` The information of each tensor is displayed in the format: ` `, where; idx = the tensor index on each operator min = the minimum floating point value before quantization max = the maximum floating point value before quantization scale = the quantization scaling, zero_point = the quantization zero point name = the name of the tensor ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-quantization ``` ### Verbose Packing Displays a list of passes where a pass represents one or more Graph IR operators that are run together as one hardware operation e.g. a pass could be a convolution operator fused with a hardswish activation. Each line of the list has the format: ` `, where; id = an increasing pass count pass = name of the pass (usually derived from the first operator in the pass) ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-packing ``` ### Verbose Performance Verbose per-layer Performance. Please see [Vela Performance Estimation Summary](PERFORMANCE.md) for a detailed explanation. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-performance ``` ### Verbose Tensor Purpose Displays a list of all operators and the tensors that are connected to them. Additional information is shown about the tensors. The format is: ` `, where; num = an increasing operator count op_type = the Graph IR Operator Type op_name = the Graph IR Operator Name (this may have been derived from the corresponding TFLite operator name) direction = either *Input* or *Output* and indicates the connection direction of the tensor with respect idx = the index position where on each operator purpose = purpose of the tensor (weight, bias, feature map, etc.) mem_area = assigned memory area (for example SRAM or Flash) mem_type = memory type (i.e. Scratch or Permanent NPU) tens = string representation of the tensor containing its name, shape and data type ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-tensor-purpose ``` ### Verbose Schedule Display all schedule operations which contain information about the operator type, block config, stripe sizes, size of encoded weights, size of weight buffers, depth slices, cascade assignment and SRAM usage. The purpose of the scheduler is to come up with an execution plan for the network. It will make decisions on how to split an operator execution into stripes, group operators together in cascades to either reduce SRAM footprint or, in a multi-level memory system, better utilize the SRAM. The scheduler will also decide in what memory to put tensors as well as how to buffer data from a slower memory like Flash/DRAM to SRAM. Feature maps can be split up into horizontal subsections called stripes that allow us to apply operators independently to smaller sections of feature maps. The output stripes that are produced can fit into a smaller buffer than the output of a full feature map would, which combined with cascading can reduce memory usage. A cascade is a group of operators that will be computed interleaved in stripes. Instead of storing the full output of an operator applied on a whole feature map, we calculate the smallest possible buffer that allows storing intermediate results of enough output stripes of one operator to allow the consecutive operator to calculate one output stripe. Then, the consumed parts of the buffer that is no longer needed by the consecutive operator in the cascade can be overwritten by a new output stripe of the first operator, allowing us to reuse and reduce the memory usage. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-schedule ``` ### Verbose Allocation This option displays tensor allocation information in separate tables for each type of memory area. Each table contains information about each tensor's start and end time, address, size and purpose as well as the memory usage during the each tensors live range. The start- and end time denotes the time steps during when the tensor needs to be allocated in the memory. After the end time, the addresses are allowed to be overwritten by other tensors. The reported memory usage is the peak usage at any time step of the tensors live range, which means that the maximum memory usage value of all tensors will be the minimum required size to fit the proposed allocation. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-allocation ``` ### Verbose High Level Command Stream Display an enumerated list of High-Level (HL) commands in execution order. There are three types of command and each one displays individual information: * NPU Stripe = ` `, represents a data processing operation that maps directly to a single Ethos-U operation where; name = name of the pass that corresponds to this HL command (not unique) ifm_box = part of the IFM in NHWC format ifm2_box = part of the IFM2 in NHWC format (is empty [] when not present) ofm_box = part of the OFM in NHWC format weight_box = part of the filter kernel in NHWC format block_config = block processing size in HWIO format * DMA = ` `, represents a memory copy operation from source to destination where; name = name of the pass that corresponds to this HL command (not unique) in = name of the source tensor out = name of the destination tensor box = part of the source tensor in NHWC format * NOP = ` `, represents a memory copy operation that has source equal to destination and therefore does nothing, where; name = name of the pass that corresponds to this HL command (not unique) in = name of the input tensor out = name of the output tensor ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-high-level-command-stream ``` ### Verbose Register Command Stream Display two groups of information. The first group is the input to the register command stream generator. The second group is the output of the register command stream generator: * Input = an enumerated list of the High-Level commands that are the input to the generator. Each command details all of its attributes. * Output = a disassembly of the Ethos-U command stream (referred to as the register command stream). More information about the commands listed in the register command stream can be found in the Arm Ethos-U NPU Technical Reference Manuals that are available from the Arm Developer website (see [README - Resources](README.md#resources)). ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-register-command-stream ``` ### Verbose Operators Display a list of all operators in the neural network graph along with their attributes before any optimization is made by Vela. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-operators ``` ### Verbose Weights Displays the size of the *Original* and *Ethos-U NPU Encoded* weights as part of the final summary information. The *original* weights size refers to the size of the weights as read from the input `.tflite` file. The *NPU Encoded* weights size refers to the total size of all of the weight tensors after they have been reordered, padded and encoded for the operators that run on the Ethos-U. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-weights ``` ### Verbose Progress This option displays progress information of the most time consuming parts of the compiler driver and scheduler. ```bash vela network.tflite --verbose-progress ``` ## Configuration File This is used to describe various properties of the Ethos-U embedded system. The configuration file is selected using the `--config` CLI option along with a file that describes the properties. The format of the file is a Python ConfigParser `.ini` file format consists of sections used to identify a configuration, and key/value pair options used to specify the properties. All sections and key/value pairs are case-sensitive. There are two types of section, system configuration `[System_Config.*]` sections and memory mode `[Memory_Mode.*]` sections. A complete Ethos-U embedded system should define at least one entry in each section, where an entry is identified using the format `[Part.Name]` (Part = {System_Config or Memory_Mode}, Name = {a string with no spaces}.). A configuration file may contain multiple entries per section, with the entries `.Name` being used to select it using the `--system-config` and `--memory-mode` CLI options. If the CLI options are not specified then the sections named `internal-default` are used. These are special sections which are defined internally and contain default values. Each section contains a number of options which are described in more detail below. All options are optional. If they are not specified, then they will be assigned a value of 1 (or the equivalent). They will not be assigned the value of `internal-default`. One special option is the `inherit` option. This can be used in any section and its value is the name of another section to inherit options from. The only restriction on this option is that recursion is not allowed and so it cannot reference its own section. To see the configuration values being used by Vela use the `--verbose_config` CLI option. This can also be used to display the internal-default values and to see a full list of all the available options. An example Vela configuration file, called `vela.ini`, is included in the `ethosu/config_files/Arm` directory. Example usage based on this file is: ```bash vela network.tflite --accelerator-config ethos-u55-256 --config Arm/vela.ini --system-config Ethos_U55_High_End_Embedded --memory-mode Shared_Sram ``` Hardware vendors and/or users may wish to contribute their own configuration files for various SoC platforms by adding a .ini file in an appropriate directory under the ethosu/config_files directory. This can be done by following the process outlined in CONTRIBUTIONS.md. These can then be accessed with `--config /config.ini` as in the example above. To use configuration files located outside the config_files directory, provide its absolute path to `--config`. The `--list-config-files` option can be used to view all available configuration files: ```bash vela --list-config-files ``` The following is an in-line explanation of the Vela configuration file format: ```ini ; file: my_vela_cfg.ini ; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; Vela configuration file ; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; System Configuration ; My_Sys_Cfg [System_Config.My_Sys_Cfg] core_clock=??? ---> Clock frequency of the Ethos-U. ??? = {float in Hz} axi0_port=??? ---> Memory type connected to AXI0. ??? = {Sram, Dram, OnChipFlash or OffChipFlash} axi1_port=??? ---> Memory type connected to AXI1. ??? = {Sram, Dram, OnChipFlash or OffChipFlash} Sram_clock_scale=??? ---> Scaling of core_clock to specify the Sram bandwidth. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {float 0.0 to 1.0} Sram_burst_length=??? ---> Minimum efficient burst length in Sram. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Bytes} Sram_read_latency=??? ---> Read latency in Sram. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Cycles} Sram_write_latency=??? ---> Write latency in Sram. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Cycles} Dram_clock_scale=??? ---> Scaling of core_clock to specify the Dram bandwidth. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {float 0.0 to 1.0} Dram_burst_length=??? ---> Minimum efficient burst length in Dram. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Bytes} Dram_read_latency=??? ---> Read latency in Dram. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Cycles} Dram_write_latency=??? ---> Write latency in Dram. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Cycles} OnChipFlash_clock_scale=??? ---> Scaling of core_clock to specify the OnChipFlash bandwidth. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {float 0.0 to 1.0} OffChipFlash_clock_scale=??? ---> Scaling of core_clock to specify the OffChipFlash bandwidth. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {float 0.0 to 1.0} OffChipFlash_burst_length=??? ---> Minimum efficient burst length in OffChipFlash. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Bytes} OffChipFlash_read_latency=??? ---> Read latency in OffChipFlash. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Cycles} OffChipFlash_write_latency=??? ---> Write latency in OffChipFlash. Only required if selected by an AXI port. ??? = {int in Cycles} ; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; Memory Mode ; My_Mem_Mode_Parent [Memory_Mode.My_Mem_Mode_Parent] const_mem_area=??? ---> AXI port used by the read-only data (e.g. weight tensors, scale & bias tensors). ??? = {Axi0, Axi1} arena_mem_area=??? ---> AXI port used by the read-write data (e.g. feature map tensors, internal buffers). ??? = {Axi0, Axi1} cache_mem_area=??? ---> AXI port used by the dedicated SRAM read-write (e.g. feature map part-tensors, internal buffers). ??? = {Axi0, Axi1} arena_cache_size=??? ---> Size of the arena/cache memory area. ??? = {int in Bytes} ; My_Mem_Mode_Child [Memory_Mode.My_Mem_Mode_Child] inherit=??? ---> Parent section to inherit from. An option in the child overwrites an identical option in the parent. ??? = {[Part.Name]} arena_cache_size=??? ---> Size of the arena/cache memory area. ??? = {int in Bytes} ``` ## Memory Modes The Vela configuration file defines three potential memory modes although other configurations are possible. Each memory mode is defined with respect to four attributes. If any of those attributes are not specified then an internal default value will be used. Note that this value may not be valid for the target embedded system. Therefore, the user is recommended to explicitly specify all settings. The three memory area attributes are each assigned to a virtual AXI port. This assignment is used by the compiler to map a memory area to a specific memory type (as defined in the System Configuration section). It allows the System Configuration sections to be reused with different Memory Mode sections. It does not control the mapping of the physical AXI ports of the hardware, which are pre-determined in the compiler and driver. 1. `const_mem_area` this is the memory area in which the compiler will store all constant data such as weights, scales & biases, and constant value tensors. 1. `arena_mem_area` this is the memory area in which the compiler will look to access the TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers Tensor Arena. 1. `cache_mem_area` this is the memory area in which the compiler uses as a cache memory if required by the selected memory mode 1. `arena_cache_size` this is the size of the memory area available to the compiler for use by either the arena or cache depending upon the memory mode Please note that all of the above attributes must have values that correspond to the settings used by the Ethos-U Driver and the TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers Application. This is because the compiler does not have any direct control over these other components. ### Sram Only Mode In this mode, the Embedded NPU only has access to SRAM memory. The compiler will make use of two regions in the SRAM, which may be separate or contiguous. One region is used for the `const_mem_area` and the other region is used for the `arena_mem_area`. It is assumed that SRAM outside of these regions will be used by other software in the system (e.g. TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers or an RTOS running on the Cortex-M CPU). The `cache_mem_area` is not used. The `arena_cache_size` refers to the size of the `arena_mem_area`. The TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers Tensor Arena will contain all of the network input, output, and intermediate tensors, including the Ethos-U scratch tensor which contains the NPU's internal working buffers. ### Shared Sram Mode In this mode, the Embedded NPU has access to SRAM which is used for the `arena_mem_area`. It also has access to some other type of memory (e.g. Flash or DRAM) that is used for the `const_mem_area`. The `cache_mem_area` is not used. The `arena_cache_size` refers to the size of the `arena_mem_area`. It is assumed that SRAM outside of the `arena_mem_area` will be used by other software in the system (e.g. TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers or an RTOS running on the Cortex-M CPU). The TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers Tensor Arena will contain all of the network input, output, and intermediate tensors, including the Ethos-U scratch tensor which contains the NPU's internal working buffers. ### Dedicated Sram Mode In this mode, the Embedded NPU has access to SRAM which is used for the `cache_mem_area`. It is assumed that use of this memory is entirely dedicated to the Embedded NPU, as no support is provided for allocating parts of this at run-time. It also has access to some other type of memory (e.g. DRAM). The compiler will make use of two regions in this other type of memory, which may be separate or contiguous. One region is used for the `const_mem_area` and the other region is used for the `arena_mem_area`. The `arena_cache_size` refers to the size of the `cache_mem_area`. It is assumed that memory outside of those regions will be used by other software in the system (e.g. TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers or an RTOS running on the Cortex-M CPU). The TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers Tensor Arena will contain all of the network input, output, and intermediate tensors, including the Ethos-U scratch tensor which contains the NPU's internal working buffers.