Examples

Start with a model, then explore memory, precision, custom operators or hardware profiling. Every example includes a walkthrough, configuration and runnable script.

Choose an example

Start with a model

Start here

First model→

One conversion, the emitted module tree, and the arena summary the converter prints

Configure and tune

Host conversion · CI checked

Memory placement→

Per-role placement rules, staged constants, caller-supplied arenas, and residency-report comparisons

Host conversion · CI checked

Static schedule→

module.schedule, generated dispatch code and callback availability

Host conversion · CI checked

Float and FP16→

Float kernel selection, the FP16 platform gate, and the ns-cmsis-nn build switches a float module needs

State and extension

Host conversion · CI checked

Recurrent state→

LiteRT variable tensors as persistent arenas, and what test.state_feedback is for

Host conversion · CI checked

Custom operator→

RegistryContext, a LiteRT parser, an AotOperator subclass, and the Python-only path a custom operator takes

Hardware recipes

Manual setup

Ethos-U→

The Ethos-U operator, the driver dependency, and the platform gate

Manual setup

Profile with hpx→

The two-config comparison recipe and how to read it

Before you start

These examples require access to the private heliaAOT repository. A package-only installation does not include the example checkout.

Use a repository checkout with Bash and Python 3.11 or newer. From the repository root, prepare and activate the project environment:

uv sync --frozen --group ci
source .venv/bin/activate

No example downloads its model. An isolated CLI installation does not include the Python dependencies used by the model-building scripts.

Ethos-U needs a Vela-compiled model. Profiling needs a supported board and the profiler toolchain. Check the prerequisites on each example page before running it.

Run an example

From the repository root, after activating the environment:

cd examples/first-model
./run.sh

The script converts the example’s model and writes the module under out/. Read the example page before selecting another configuration or building the generated firmware.

Host conversion and compile checks

Six examples have CI conversion and host-compilation checks; these do not establish on-device numerical or timing qualification. Browse the source examples for their READMEs and scripts.

The canonical example overview documents examples/check.sh and its HELIA_CMSIS_NN_SOURCE_DIR dependency. This compiles individual translation units; it does not link or run target inference.

Model provenance

first-model/kws_ref holds the MLPerf Tiny keyword-spotting model and its golden fixture: byte-identical to the mlcommons/tiny artifact, with the fixture from helia-model-zoo at a fixed commit, Apache-2.0. Its README records the source revisions and the SHA-256 of both files.

The synthetic float-fp16, custom-operator and recurrent-state recipes build small fixtures locally.