通过循环精炼中间层,零令牌机制提升小模型性能。
Zero Token-Driven Deep Thinking in LLMs: Unlocking the Full Potential of Existing Parameters via Cyclic Refinement
- 分离首尾层,仅循环精炼中间层以提升效率
- 引入零令牌池动态调整计算,实现无损早停
- 可直接微调现有模型,适合资源受限场景
资源限制常制约大语言模型(LLMs)的参数量,影响其性能。现有方法虽通过参数共享在固定预算下复用参数集,但通常强制每层承担多重角色并设定固定迭代次数,限制了效率与适应性。本文提出零令牌变压器(ZTT),采用头尾解耦的参数循环机制,将首层(头)和末层(尾)从参数循环中分离,仅迭代精炼中间层。同时引入零令牌机制——一种内部架构组件而非输入标记,用于引导层特定计算。每轮循环中,模型从零令牌池检索一个可训练键值的零令牌,并将其与常规标记一同融入注意力机制。对应的注意力分数不仅反映各层计算重要性,还可支持动态早停而不牺牲整体准确性。该方法在严格参数预算下表现更优,通过早停有效降低计算开销,且可直接应用于微调已有预训练模型,以增强效率与适应性。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Resource limitations often constrain the parameter counts of Large Language Models (LLMs), hindering their performance. While existing methods employ parameter sharing to reuse the same parameter set under fixed budgets, such approaches typically force each layer to assume multiple roles with a predetermined number of iterations, restricting efficiency and adaptability. In this work, we propose the Zero Token Transformer (ZTT), which features a head-tail decoupled parameter cycling method. We disentangle the first (head) and last (tail) layers from parameter cycling and iteratively refine only the intermediate layers. Furthermore, we introduce a Zero-Token Mechanism, an internal architectural component rather than an input token, to guide layer-specific computation. At each cycle, the model retrieves a zero token (with trainable key values) from a Zero-Token Pool, integrating it alongside regular tokens in the attention mechanism. The corresponding attention scores not only reflect each layer's computational importance but also enable dynamic early exits without sacrificing overall model accuracy. Our approach achieves superior performance under tight parameter budgets, effectively reduces computational overhead via early exits, and can be readily applied to fine-tune existing pre-trained models for enhanced efficiency and adaptability.
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