Applying Gradient Accumulation Algorithm
Linux GPU Model Optimization Intermediate Expert
Overview
This tutorial describes the gradient accumulation training method to solve the problem that some large-scale networks cannot train large batch_size due to insufficient memory.
In a traditional training method, after a loss and a gradient are calculated, a parameter is directly updated by using the obtained gradient.
Different from the traditional training method, the concept of mini-batch is introduced to the gradient accumulation. The loss and gradient are computed for each mini-batch data, but the model parameters are not updated immediately. Instead, the obtained gradients are accumulated first, and then after the number (N) of mini-batches is specified, the accumulated gradient is used to update the network parameters. Before the next training, the accumulated gradients are cleared and re-accumulated.
The ultimate objective is to achieve the same effect as training with N x mini-batch data.
This tutorial is applicable to GPUs. You can download the main training sample code from https://gitee.com/mindspore/docs/tree/r1.1/tutorials/tutorial_code/gradient_accumulation.
Creating a Gradient Accumulation Model
The MNIST dataset is used as an example to describe how to customize a simple model to implement gradient accumulation.
Importing Library Files
The following are the required public modules and MindSpore modules and library files.
import argparse
import os
from collections.abc import Iterable
import mindspore.nn as nn
from mindspore import ParameterTuple
from mindspore import context, DatasetHelper, save_checkpoint
from mindspore.nn import Cell
import mindspore.ops as ops
from model_zoo.official.cv.lenet.src.dataset import create_dataset
from model_zoo.official.cv.lenet.src.lenet import LeNet5
Loading the Dataset
Use the MnistDataset API provided by the dataset of MindSpore to load the MNIST dataset. The code is imported from dataset.py in the lenet directory of model_zoo.
Defining the Network
The following uses the LeNet network as an example. You can also use other networks, such as ResNet-50 and BERT. The code is imported from lenet.py in the lenet directory of model_zoo.
Defining the Training Model
The training process is divided into three parts: forward and backward training, parameter update, and accumulated gradient clearance.
TrainForwardBackwardcalculates the loss and gradient, and uses grad_sum to implement gradient accumulation.TrainOptimupdates parameters.TrainClearclears the gradient accumulation variable grad_sum.
_sum_op = ops.MultitypeFuncGraph("grad_sum_op")
_clear_op = ops.MultitypeFuncGraph("clear_op")
@_sum_op.register("Tensor", "Tensor")
def _cumulative_grad(grad_sum, grad):
"""Apply grad sum to cumulative gradient."""
add = ops.AssignAdd()
return add(grad_sum, grad)
@_clear_op.register("Tensor", "Tensor")
def _clear_grad_sum(grad_sum, zero):
"""Apply zero to clear grad_sum."""
success = True
success = ops.depend(success, ops.assign(grad_sum, zero))
return success
class TrainForwardBackward(Cell):
def __init__(self, network, optimizer, grad_sum, sens=1.0):
super(TrainForwardBackward, self).__init__(auto_prefix=False)
self.network = network
self.network.set_grad()
self.network.add_flags(defer_inline=True)
self.weights = ParameterTuple(network.trainable_params())
self.optimizer = optimizer
self.grad_sum = grad_sum
self.grad = ops.GradOperation(get_by_list=True, sens_param=True)
self.sens = sens
self.hyper_map = ops.HyperMap()
def construct(self, *inputs):
weights = self.weights
loss = self.network(*inputs)
sens = ops.Fill()(ops.DType()(loss), ops.Shape()(loss), self.sens)
grads = self.grad(self.network, weights)(*inputs, sens)
return ops.depend(loss, self.hyper_map(ops.partial(_sum_op), self.grad_sum, grads))
class TrainOptim(Cell):
def __init__(self, optimizer, grad_sum):
super(TrainOptim, self).__init__(auto_prefix=False)
self.optimizer = optimizer
self.grad_sum = grad_sum
def construct(self):
return self.optimizer(self.grad_sum)
class TrainClear(Cell):
def __init__(self, grad_sum, zeros):
super(TrainClear, self).__init__(auto_prefix=False)
self.grad_sum = grad_sum
self.zeros = zeros
self.hyper_map = ops.HyperMap()
def construct(self):
success = self.hyper_map(ops.partial(_clear_op), self.grad_sum, self.zeros)
return success
Defining the Training Process
Each mini-batch calculates the loss and gradient through forward and backward training, and uses mini_steps to control the accumulated times before each parameter update. After the number of accumulation times is reached, the parameter is updated and the accumulated gradient variable is cleared.
class GradientAccumulation:
def __init__(self, network, loss_fn, optimizer):
self._network = network
self._loss_fn = loss_fn
self._optimizer = optimizer
params = self._optimizer.parameters
self._grad_sum = params.clone(prefix="grad_sum", init='zeros')
self._zeros = params.clone(prefix="zeros", init='zeros')
self._train_forward_backward = self._build_train_forward_backward_network()
self._train_optim = self._build_train_optim()
self._train_clear = self._build_train_clear()
@staticmethod
def _transform_callbacks(callbacks):
"""Transform callback to a list."""
if callbacks is None:
return []
if isinstance(callbacks, Iterable):
return list(callbacks)
return [callbacks]
def _build_train_forward_backward_network(self):
"""Build forward and backward network"""
network = self._network
network = nn.WithLossCell(network, self._loss_fn)
loss_scale = 1.0
network = TrainForwardBackward(network, self._optimizer, self._grad_sum, loss_scale).set_train()
return network
def _build_train_optim(self):
"""Build optimizer network"""
network = TrainOptim(self._optimizer, self._grad_sum).set_train()
return network
def _build_train_clear(self):
"""Build clear network"""
network = TrainClear(self._grad_sum, self._zeros).set_train()
return network
def train_process(self, epoch, train_dataset, mini_steps=None):
"""
Training process. The data would be passed to network directly.
"""
dataset_helper = DatasetHelper(train_dataset, dataset_sink_mode=False, epoch_num=epoch)
for i in range(epoch):
step = 0
for k, next_element in enumerate(dataset_helper):
loss = self._train_forward_backward(*next_element)
if (k + 1) % mini_steps == 0:
step += 1
print("epoch:", i + 1, "step:", step, "loss is ", loss)
self._train_optim()
self._train_clear()
train_dataset.reset()
save_checkpoint(self._train_forward_backward, "gradient_accumulation.ckpt", )
Training and Saving the Model
Call the network, optimizer, and loss function, and then customize the train_process API of GradientAccumulation to train the model.
if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='MindSpore Grad Cumulative Example')
parser.add_argument('--device_target', type=str, default="GPU", choices=['GPU'],
help='device where the code will be implemented (default: GPU)')
parser.add_argument('--data_path', type=str, default="./Data",
help='path where the dataset is saved')
args = parser.parse_args()
context.set_context(mode=context.GRAPH_MODE, device_target=args.device_target)
ds_train = create_dataset(os.path.join(args.data_path, "train"), 32)
net = LeNet5(10)
net_loss = nn.SoftmaxCrossEntropyWithLogits(is_grad=False, sparse=True, reduction="mean")
net_opt = nn.Momentum(net.trainable_params(), 0.01, 0.9)
model = GradientAccumulation(net, net_loss, net_opt)
print("============== Starting Training ==============")
model.train_process(10, ds_train, mini_steps=4)
Experiment Result
After 10 epochs, the accuracy on the test set is about 96.31%.
Training Execution:
Run the training code and view the running result.
python train.py --data_path=./MNIST_Data
The output is as follows. The loss value decreases during training.
epoch: 1 step: 27 loss is 0.3660637 epoch: 1 step: 28 loss is 0.25238192 ... epoch: 3 step: 2 loss is 0.12296932 epoch: 3 step: 3 loss is 0.15799297 ... epoch: 10 step: 448 loss is 0.06443884 epoch: 10 step: 449 loss is 0.0067842817
Check the saved checkpoint files.
The model file
gradient_accumulation.ckptis saved during training.
Model Validation:
Use the saved checkpoint file to load the validation dataset through eval.py in the lenet directory of model_zoo.
python eval.py --data_path=./MNIST_Data --ckpt_path=./gradient_accumulation.ckpt --device_target=GPU
The output is as follows. The accuracy of the validation dataset is about 96.31%, which is the same as the result when the value of batch_size is 32.
============== Starting Testing ==============
============== {'Accuracy': 0.9631730769230769} ==============