Pambuyo pa CPU ndi GPU, NPU ndiye mkwiyo watsopano ndipo kampani iliyonse kunja uko ikugwiritsa ntchito mphamvu ya NPU kuti ipereke mawonekedwe a Generative AI ndi zokumana nazo. Ma PC a Copilot + amabwera ndi ma processor a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X omwe amanyamula NPU yamphamvu, yopereka mpaka 45 TOPS (ntchito mabiliyoni pamphindikati).
Apple Neural Engine aka NPU yaposachedwa kwambiri imatha kupereka mpaka 38 TOPS. Intel ndi AMD alinso okonzeka kumasula ma NPU awo amtundu wotsatira wa Lunar Lake (48 TOPS) ndi nsanja za Strix Point (50 TOPS). Ndi hype yochuluka kuzungulira ma NPU, imafunsa funso, kodi NPU ndi chiyani ndipo imachita chiyani? Kuti muyankhe mafunso anu onse, nayi wofotokozera pa NPUs.
Kodi NPU ndi chiyani?
NPU imayimira Neural Processing Unit, ndipo idapangidwa makamaka kuti igwire ntchito zokhudzana ndi AI. Ndikanena ntchito zokhudzana ndi AI, zikutanthauza kuti NPU imatha kukonza ma neural network, ntchito zophunzirira makina, ndi kuchuluka kwa ntchito za AI.
Pali mitundu ina ya masamu owerengetsera omwe amachitidwa pa ntchito za AI, ndipo chodziwika kwambiri ndi kuchulutsa kwa matrix (kutchedwanso ‘matmul’). Ma NPU adapangidwa kuti azigwira ntchito zochulutsa matrix mwachangu kwambiri.
Kuphatikiza apo, pa ntchito iliyonse ya AI, kukonza kofananira ndikofunikira kwambiri, pomwe ma neural network amakonza ntchito zambiri nthawi imodzi. Chifukwa chake, ma NPU ali ndi ma accelerator apadera omwe amatsegula kufanana pamlingo waukulu. Kuphatikizidwa ndi kukumbukira kwakukulu kwa bandwidth, ma NPU amatha kuchita ntchito zofananira m’magulu angapo.
Chifukwa chake, kunena mwachidule, ma NPU amapangidwira ntchito za AI pomwe cholinga chake ndikutsegula kufanana, kuchita matmul mwachangu kwambiri, ndikupangitsa kuti scalability. Kumbukirani, makampani osiyanasiyana amatcha ma NPU mosiyana. Google imachitcha TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) ndipo Apple imachitcha Neural Engine.
Kodi NPU Imasiyana Bwanji ndi CPU ndi GPU?
Monga ndanenera pamwambapa, ma NPU amasamalira makamaka ntchito zokhudzana ndi AI, zomwe zikutanthauza kuti ndi gawo lokhazikika la ntchito. Pomwe, CPU ndi gawo lokonzekera zolinga zomwe zimayenera kugwira ntchito zosiyanasiyana.
Mwachitsanzo, ma CPU amatha kugwira ntchito zamakina ogwiritsira ntchito komanso kugwiritsa ntchito wamba. Kusinthasintha kwake ndikuti imatha kuthana ndi chilichonse chomwe mungaponyere. Ma CPU ndiabwino kwambiri pantchito zamtundu umodzi, koma sizothandiza kwambiri pantchito zofananira.
Kenako, GPU idapangidwira kuti iwonetse zithunzi, zomwe zikutanthauza kuti ndiyabwino kwambiri pamasewera amphamvu ndikupanga zoyerekeza. Ma GPU ali pafupi kwambiri ndi ma NPU chifukwa amathanso kugwira ntchito limodzi. Ichi ndichifukwa chake ma GPU amathanso kuchita ntchito zokhudzana ndi AI, ndipo amagwiritsidwa ntchito kwambiri pophunzitsa mitundu ya AI. Izi zati, popeza ma NPU amapangidwira ntchito zokhudzana ndi AI zokha, zimayenda bwino mwachangu komanso moyenera.
Kumbukirani, m’masiku oyambilira a makompyuta pomwe panalibe GPU kapena NPU, CPU idagwira ntchito ndi zithunzi pogwiritsa ntchito mapulogalamu. Ndi kupita patsogolo kwaukadaulo m’zaka za m’ma 1990, ma GPU adabwera kudzagwiritsa ntchito zithunzi pogwiritsa ntchito zida zodzipatulira. Ndipo tsopano, tikuwona zaka za NPU.
Magawo onsewa amapangidwa kuti azigwira ntchito zapadera kuti CPU isatsindike pamitundu yonse ya ntchito. Izi zimabweretsa kuwongolera bwino komanso magwiridwe antchito. Ngakhale ma NPU akuyamba kutchuka, dziwani kuti ma GPU amagwiritsidwabe ntchito pophunzitsa mitundu ya AI. Ndipo ma NPU tsopano amagwiritsidwa ntchito kwambiri pakuwongolera. Izi zati, Google yaphunzitsa mtundu wake wa Gemini kwathunthu pa TPU yake.
Kodi Ntchito za NPU mu Malaputopu ndi ziti?
Ma NPU kapena ma accelerator apadera a AI adagwiritsidwa ntchito poyambira ndi makampani akulu pakukonza kofananira. Komabe, zinthu za ogula monga ma laputopu ndi mafoni am’manja tsopano ali ndi ma NPU. Mwachitsanzo, ma PC a Copilot + atsopano a Microsoft amabwera ndi NPU yamphamvu yomwe imatha mphamvu ngati Recall, yomwe yachedwetsedwa pakadali pano koma ikubwera posachedwa m’miyezi ingapo ikubwerayi.
Kukumbukira kumatenga zowonera pazenera, kukonza zomwe zili pa chipangizocho pogwiritsa ntchito NPU, ndikupanga index ya vekitala. Kukadakhala kuti CPU kapena GPU ikukonza deta, zikanayambitsa kukhetsa kwa batri. Koma tsopano popeza tili ndi NPU yodzipatulira, imatha kuchita bwino ntchito za AI popanda kugunda moyo wa batri kapena kukakamiza CPU kapena GPU.
Momwemonso, ma NPU odzipatulira ndi omwe ali ndi mphamvu monga Cocreator mu MS Paint, amapanga zithunzi mu pulogalamu ya Photos, chotsani maziko pakanema, gwiritsani ntchito zowoneka bwino pogwiritsa ntchito Magic Mask pa DaVinci Resolve, mafelemu apamwamba pamasewera, gwiritsani ntchito Windows Studio Effects, pangani zenizeni- kumasulira nthawi ndi kumasulira, ndi zina zambiri.
Popita nthawi, kugwiritsa ntchito ma NPU kukukulirakulira. Imamasula CPU ndi GPU kuti isagwire ntchito zotere, ndikupangitsa chipangizochi kukhala chofulumira komanso chogwiritsa ntchito batri.
Apple, kumbali ina, imagwiritsa ntchito Neural Engine aka NPU mphamvu zambiri za Apple Intelligence pa iOS, iPadOS, ndi macOS. Mtundu wa pa chipangizo cha AI umagwiritsa ntchito Neural Engine kufotokoza mwachidule maimelo, kuika patsogolo zidziwitso, kupanga chidule cha zojambulira mafoni, kupanga zithunzi, ndi zina. Siri yatsopano imagwiritsanso ntchito Neural Engine kukonza ntchito zambiri za AI.
Mwachidule, NPU ndi chowonjezera chatsopano cha Hardware chomwe chitha kutsegulira mwayi watsopano muzaka za AI. Ichi ndi chiyambi chabe, ndipo ntchito zatsopano ndi zochitika zochokera ku NPU zidzatheka posachedwa.
