Validation
Fast kernels need trustworthy results. heliaCORE uses helia-core-tester to generate test inputs and expected outputs, build kernel harnesses, execute supported suites, and collect correctness and performance evidence. Integer, FP16, and FP32 paths need different cases and numerical checks; successful compilation is only one part of that process.
Reference-output checks
Section titled “Reference-output checks”Descriptors define the operation, shapes, tensor types, and comparison policy. The generation pipeline creates inputs and reference outputs so a kernel’s result can be checked against a known expectation. Float comparisons use explicit absolute and relative tolerances where appropriate; pure data movement can have a stricter contract.
The tester also supports cases designed to expose numerical and shape errors: nonzero quantization offsets, broadcast layouts, partial-vector tails, and non-finite float inputs where the operator defines their behavior. Recurrent cases must account for persistent state, rather than treating each step as an independent stateless call. See the tester descriptor and comparison documentation.
A skipped case is different from a passed case. Read the requested configuration, generated manifest, capability skips, and execution report together when judging coverage for a specific release.
Mutation testing
Section titled “Mutation testing”A test suite should catch incorrect implementations, not simply execute them. The tester’s mutation workflow deliberately changes kernel behavior, rebuilds, and records which cases detect the injected fault. Examples in the recorded float audit include removing bias, changing a pooling scale, reversing a comparison, and copying one element too few.
That audit caught its injected faults with the existing float tests. It establishes evidence for those cases and fault classes, not a claim that every possible bug is covered. The mutation workflow distinguishes a surviving fault from one that is not applicable to the selected CPU capabilities.
Simulation and build checks
Section titled “Simulation and build checks”The heliaCORE tester workflow defines integer runs across Cortex-M profiles and separate float execution legs, including FP16 and FP32. FVP runs exercise compiled target code under simulation; they do not measure execution time on an Ambiq board.
The tester repository also checks generation and compilation of harnesses in its self-validation workflow. That workflow explicitly skips execution. Use the artifacts from an actual run to establish a pass, rather than inferring one from a workflow definition.
Hardware evidence
Section titled “Hardware evidence”The hardware runner streams cases to firmware on an Ambiq board, compares outputs, and captures DWT cycles and supported PMU events. Its hardware report records Apollo510 correctness and PMU capture checks and separates verified paths from remaining limitations.
Useful evidence travels with the result:
| Artifact | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Session manifest and target identity | Kernel/tester revisions, board, firmware, compiler, and selected cases |
| Correctness results | Expected output, comparison policy, failures, and skipped cases |
| Raw timing and PMU samples | Iterations, event names, support flags, and overflow status |
| Case summary | Statistics and normalization for each workload |
| Memory report and build artifacts | Code/data placement and the firmware actually measured |
An overflow-free counter is not a correctness verdict. Check correctness and counter validity separately. Hardware support in the runner also does not imply that every descriptor has a hardware adapter or that every configuration has been exercised on a board.
Validate your application
Section titled “Validate your application”Use the library’s test evidence as a foundation, then check your model’s actual shapes, parameters, compiler settings, and memory placement. Keep reference inputs and expected outputs alongside the firmware used for qualification. Re-run representative cases after changing a kernel library, compiler, or build option.