让大模型训练同时探索多种学习率,自动优化效果。
Scalable Hyperparameter-Divergent Ensemble Training with Automatic Learning Rate Exploration for Large Models

- 用多副本并行尝试不同学习率,再聚合结果
- 自适应调整学习率,提升优化与泛化性能
- 可扩展至其他超参数,无需改代码
使用数据并行随机梯度下降训练大型神经网络时,N个GPU副本执行几乎相同的更新,导致学习率配置空间未被利用。我们提出超参数发散集成训练(HDET),将这些副本用于低通信开销的学习率并行探索。HDET采用交替阶段:在分发阶段,各副本在结构化对称的学习率分布下独立训练;在收敛阶段,每T步通过AllReduce对参数进行平均。在此基础上,我们设计了自动学习率(auto-LR)控制器,将副本间训练损失差异视为性能信号,通过无梯度的动量元更新,向更高性能配置调整共享基础学习率调度。该方法生成自适应学习率策略,在不增加超参数调优或训练预算的情况下,同时提升优化质量与泛化能力。关键在于,该框架可推广至任意标量超参数(如丢弃率、注意力温度、权重衰减系数),仅需保持模型结构不变,利用副本间损失差作为零阶超梯度引导搜索方向。HDET可作为PyTorch OneCycleLR调度器的即插即用替代品,无需修改模型架构、优化器或数据流水线。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Training large neural networks with data-parallel stochastic gradient descent allocates N GPU replicas to compute effectively identical updates -- a practice that leaves the rich space of learning rate configurations entirely unexplored during training. We propose Hyperparameter-Divergent Ensemble Training (HDET), a method that repurposes these replicas for simultaneous learning rate exploration at negligible communication overhead. HDET operates in alternating phases: a fan-out stage in which replicas train independently under a structured, symmetric spread of learning rates, and a converge stage in which parameters are averaged across all replicas via AllReduce every T steps. Building on this ensemble substrate, we further propose an automatic learning rate (auto-LR) controller that treats the relative training loss across replicas as a performance signal, updating the shared base schedule toward higher-performing configurations via a momentum-based gradient-free meta-update. The combined method produces a self-adapting learning rate schedule that improves both optimization quality and generalization without additional hyperparameter sweeps or training budget. Crucially, the framework generalizes beyond learning rate: any scalar hyperparameter that does not alter model architecture -- such as dropout rate, attention scale temperature, or weight-decay coefficient -- can be explored across replicas using the same fan-out/converge protocol, with inter-replica loss differences serving as zero-order hypergradients that guide the search direction. HDET is implemented as a drop-in replacement for PyTorch's OneCycleLR scheduler, requiring no changes to model architecture, optimizer, or data pipeline.
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