arXiv:2605.05358cs.LGcs.CV2026-05中稿 · publication at IEE…

解决早期退出网络序列训练中的性能退化问题,提升稳定与适应性平衡。

Balancing Stability and Plasticity in Sequentially Trained Early-Exiting Neural Networks

  • 通过保护关键参数或输出分布,缓解新旧出口间的干扰。
  • 在多个基准上实现更高准确率和显著推理加速。
  • 适合需要高效推理的持续学习场景,如边缘设备部署。

早期退出神经网络通过允许输入在中间分类器处提前退出,实现自适应推理,对简单样本减少计算量的同时保持高精度。实际中,可通过逐次添加出口到共享主干的方式进行序列训练;然而,这种训练方式可能导致新引入的出口干扰已学习的早期出口,降低其性能。本文提出两种不同层级的方法,在保留已有出口知识的同时,使新出口得以专精:第一种通过保护对先前出口重要的参数来约束学习,第二种则在模型适应过程中保持早期出口的输出分布。这两种方法分别对应持续学习中的稳定性-可塑性权衡,分别采用弹性权重巩固(Elastic Weight Consolidation)和无遗忘学习(Learning without Forgetting)实现。在标准基准上的实验表明,所提方法能一致提升早期退出性能,在低计算预算下实现显著速度提升,并优于现有序列训练方法。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Early-exiting neural networks enable adaptive inference by allowing inputs to exit at intermediate classifiers, reducing computation for easy samples while maintaining high accuracy. In practice, exits can be trained sequentially by incrementally adding them to a shared backbone; however, this sequential training can cause newly introduced exits to interfere with previously learned ones, degrading the performance of earlier classifiers. We address this problem by retaining the knowledge embedded in existing exits while allowing new ones to specialize. We propose two alternative approaches that operate at different levels of the model. The first constrains learning by protecting parameters that are important for previously trained exits, while the second preserves the output distributions of earlier exits as the network adapts. These alternatives directly reflect the stability-plasticity trade-off studied in continual learning. Accordingly, we leverage \textit{Elastic Weight Consolidation} to constrain critical weights and \textit{Learning without Forgetting} to preserve output distributions. Experiments on standard benchmarks show that our approaches consistently improve early-exit performance, achieving higher accuracy over existing sequential training methods and significant performance speedups at low computational budgets.

早期退出持续学习推理加速

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