Efficient machine learning software stack from algorithms to compilation
Creators: name: Jiang, Zixuan
name: 0000-0001-6180-6487
Publisher: name: The University of Texas at Austin
Year: 2023
Subjects: Machine learning
Machine learning algorithms
Machine learning compilation
Machine learning system
Machine learning software stack
Machine learning efficiency

description: Machine learning enables the extraction of knowledge from data and decision-making without explicit programming, achieving great success and revolutionizing many fields. These successes can be attributed to the continuous advancements in machine learning software and hardware, which have expanded the boundaries and facilitated breakthroughs in diverse applications. The machine learning software stack is a comprehensive collection of components used to solve problems with machine learning algorithms. It encompasses problem definitions, data processing, model and method designs, software frameworks, libraries, code optimization, and system management. This stack supports the entire life cycle of a machine learning project. The software stack allows the community to stand on the shoulders of previous great work and push the limit of machine learning, fostering innovation and enabling broader adoption of machine learning techniques in academia and industry. The software stack is usually divided into algorithm and compilation with distinct design principles. Algorithm design prioritizes task-related performance, while compilation focuses on execution time and resource consumption on hardware devices. Maintaining arithmetic equivalence is optional in algorithm design, but compulsory in compilation to ensure consistent results. The compilation is closer to hardware than algorithm design. Compilation engineers optimize for hardware specifications, while algorithm developers usually do not prioritize hardware-friendliness. Opportunities to enhance hardware efficiency exist in algorithm and compilation designs, as well as their interplay. Despite extensive innovations and improvements, efficiency in the machine learning software stack is a continuing challenge. Algorithm design proposes efficient model architectures and learning algorithms, while compilation design optimizes computation graphs and simplifies operations. However, there is still a gap between the demand for efficiency and the current solutions, driven by rapidly growing workloads, limited resources in specific machine learning applications, and the need for cross-layer design. Addressing these challenges requires interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Improving efficiency in the machine learning software stack will optimize performance and enhance the accessibility and applicability of machine learning technologies. In this dissertation, we focus on addressing these efficiency challenges from the perspectives of machine learning algorithms and compilation. We introduce three novel improvements that enhance the efficiency of mainstream machine learning algorithms. Firstly, effective gradient matching for dataset condensation generates a small insightful dataset, accelerating training and other related tasks. Additionally, NormSoftmax proposes to append a normalization layer to achieve fast and stable training in Transformers and classification models. Lastly, mixed precision hardware-aware neural architecture search combines mixed-precision quantization, neural architecture search, and hardware energy efficiency, resulting in significantly more efficient neural networks than using a single method. However, algorithmic efficiency alone is insufficient to fully exploit the potential in the machine learning software stack. We delve into and optimize the compilation processes with three techniques. Firstly, we simplify the layer normalization in the influential Transformers, obtaining two equivalent and efficient Transformer variants with alternative normalization types. Our proposed variants enable efficient training and inference of popular models like GPT and ViT. Secondly, we formulate and solve the scheduling problem for reversible neural architectures, finding the optimal training schedule that fully leverages the computation and memory resources on hardware accelerators. Lastly, optimizer fusion allows users to accelerate the training process in the eager execution mode of machine learning frameworks. It leverages the better locality on hardware and parallelism in the computation graphs. Throughout the dissertation, we emphasize the integration of efficient algorithms and compilation into a cohesive machine learning software stack. We also consider hardware properties to provide hardware-friendly software designs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in algorithm and compilation through extensive experiments. Our approaches effectively reduce the time and energy required for both training and inference. Ultimately, our methods have the potential to empower machine learning practitioners and researchers to build more efficient, powerful, robust, scalable, and accessible machine learning solutions.