Journal of Applied Sciences ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (1): 169-182.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0255-8297.2025.01.012

• Special Issue on Computer Application • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Benchmarking of Spiking Neural Networks and Performance Evaluation of Neuromorphic Training Frameworks

HU Wangxin1,2, CHENG Yingchao1, HE Yulin1, HUANG Zhexue1,2, CAI Zhanchuan3   

  1. 1. Guangdong Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Economy (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518107, Guangdong, China;
    2. College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, Guangdong, China;
    3. School of Computer Science and Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao 999078, China
  • Received:2024-08-08 Online:2025-01-30 Published:2025-01-24

Abstract: With the growing interest in spiking neural networks (SNNs), the development of open-source neuromorphic training frameworks has also accelerated. However, there is currently a lack of systematic guidelines for selecting these frameworks. To address this issue, this paper proposes a benchmarking method for SNNs based on image classification tasks. This method designs a convolutional neural network and a fully connected deep neural networks to evaluate two SNN training approaches: direct training with surrogate gradient backpropagation and conversion from artificial neural networks (ANNs) to SNNs. Based on the MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, and CIFAR-10 benchmark image datasets, the performance comparisons of various neuromorphic training frameworks are conducted using evaluation metrics such as training time and classification accuracy. Experimental results indicate that the neuromorphic training framework SpikingJelly outperforms others in terms of both training time and classification accuracy in direct SNN training, while the Lava framework achieves the highest classification accuracy in ANN-to-SNN conversion training.

Key words: deep learning, spiking neural network, neuromorphic training framework, benchmarking, image classification

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