This topic demonstrates how to use the Benchmark Application to estimate deep learning inference performance on supported devices. Performance can be measured for two inference modes: synchronous (latency-oriented) and asynchronous (throughput-oriented).
NOTE: This topic describes usage of C++ implementation of the Benchmark Application. For the Python* implementation, refer to Benchmark Application (Python*).
Upon start-up, the application reads command-line parameters and loads a network and images/binary files to the Inference Engine plugin, which is chosen depending on a specified device. The number of infer requests and execution approach depend on the mode defined with the -api command-line parameter.
NOTE: By default, Inference Engine samples and demos expect input with BGR channels order. If you trained your model to work with RGB order, you need to manually rearrange the default channels order in the sample or demo application or reconvert your model using the Model Optimizer tool with
--reverse_input_channelsargument specified. For more information about the argument, refer to When to Reverse Input Channels section of Converting a Model Using General Conversion Parameters.
If you run the application in the synchronous mode, it creates one infer request and executes the Infer method. If you run the application in the asynchronous mode, it creates as many infer requests as specified in the -nireq command-line parameter and executes the StartAsync method for each of them. If -nireq is not set, the demo will use the default value for specified device.
A number of execution steps is defined by one of the following parameters:
-niter command-line argument-t command-line argument-niter and -t are not specified. Predefined duration value depends on a device.During the execution, the application collects latency for each executed infer request.
Reported latency value is calculated as a median value of all collected latencies. Reported throughput value is reported in frames per second (FPS) and calculated as a derivative from:
Throughput value also depends on batch size.
The application also collects per-layer Performance Measurement (PM) counters for each executed infer request if you enable statistics dumping by setting the -report_type parameter to one of the possible values:
no_counters report includes configuration options specified, resulting FPS and latency.average_counters report extends the no_counters report and additionally includes average PM counters values for each layer from the network.detailed_counters report extends the average_counters report and additionally includes per-layer PM counters and latency for each executed infer request.Depending on the type, the report is stored to benchmark_no_counters_report.csv, benchmark_average_counters_report.csv, or benchmark_detailed_counters_report.csv file located in the path specified in -report_folder.
The application also saves executable graph information serialized to a XML file if you specify a path to it with the -exec_graph_path parameter.
Notice that the benchmark_app usually produces optimal performance for any device out of the box.
So in most cases you don't need to play the app options explicitly and the plain device name is enough, e.g.:
As explained in the Introduction to Performance Topics section, for all devices, including new MULTI device it is preferable to use the FP16 IR for the model.
Running the application with the -h option yields the following usage message:
Running the application with the empty list of options yields the usage message given above and an error message.
Application supports topologies with one or more inputs. If a topology is not data sensitive, you can skip the input parameter. In this case, inputs are filled with random values. If a model has only image input(s), please a provide folder with images or a path to an image as input. If a model has some specific input(s) (not images), please prepare a binary file(s), which is filled with data of appropriate precision and provide a path to them as input. If a model has mixed input types, input folder should contain all required files. Image inputs are filled with image files one by one. Binary inputs are filled with binary inputs one by one.
To download the pre-trained models, use the OpenVINO Model Downloader or go to https://download.01.org/opencv/.
NOTE: Before running the demo with a trained model, make sure the model is converted to the Inference Engine format (*.xml + *.bin) using the Model Optimizer tool.
For example, to perform inference on CPU in the synchronous mode and get estimated performance metrics for AlexNet model, run the following command:
For the asynchronous mode:
The application outputs the number of executed iterations, total duration of execution, latency and throughput. Additionally, if you set the -report_type parameter, the application outputs statistics report. If you set the -pc parameter, the application outputs performance counters. If you set -exec_graph_path, the application reports executable graph information serialized.
All measurements including per-layer PM counters are reported in milliseconds.