A structured inference optimization approach for vision-based DNN deployment on legacy systems

With the growing demand for semiconductor products, the semiconductor manufacturing industries are trying to increase their production capacities. Additional requirements and constraints are also enforced on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, particularly on robustness for visual inspections and vision-based alignment. Deep neural networks (DNNs) are prominently used for vision-based tasks to improve robustness. The challenge, however, is that semiconductor manufacturing industries still use brownfield systems and equipment with legacy hardware and software. The legacy systems introduce challenging requirements and constraints on the DNN deployment and the traditional approach to inference optimization results in poor inference performance. This paper presents a structured approach to optimize the inference of DNNs for vision-based tasks for industrial brownfield architectures with existing legacy hardware, software, and the associated requirements and constraints. Four directions in the machine learning operations (MLOps) pipeline are explored in this approach - DNN architecture selection, DNN model optimization, target deployment platform, and inference engine - while adhering to the legacy systems’ requirements and constraints. We present our approach using the case study from the semiconductor manufacturing industry that deploys DNNs for vision-based position detection in their legacy equipment. The results of the optimized DNN deployment are compared with a baseline implementation, and up to 44% improvement in inference timing performance is achieved without compromising on inference accuracy.