REACT: A Framework for Rapid Exploration of Approximate Computing Techniques

The efficiency–accuracy trade-off of approximate-computing spans a diverse array of techniques at both the hardware and software levels. While this diversity is key to the success of approximation research, it also entails considerable complexity in developing and validating new approximation techniques. To overcome this complexity and foster innovation in research, we propose REACT, a modeling framework that lets researchers rapidly evaluate approximate-computing techniques and captures the efficiency– accuracy tradeoff created by approximation. We describe the components of REACT and explain how our framework models approximation techniques from the diverse taxonomy of existing research.