优化量化块大小的缩放策略,可显著提升低精度大模型性能
Finer is Better (with the Right Scaling)

- 发现细粒度块量化时缩放因子易下溢导致性能下降
- 改进缩放选择方法后,模型质量随块大小减小而提升
- 适合芯片与软件协同设计的研究者和工程师
微量化是保持超低精度量化大语言模型质量的关键技术。尽管更细的块尺寸理论上应降低量化误差,但Fasoli等(2026)发现标准绝对最大值缩放反而会导致模型质量下降。本文揭示该现象根源:小块内元素更接近局部最大值,与粗粒度的E4M3次正常数缩放因子不兼容。我们证明:i)防止缩放因子下溢至零可缓解极端下溢误差;ii)如4-over-6算法等针对性干预能解决大数值下的悖论;iii)暴力搜索验证了理论均方误差(MSE)随块尺寸减小严格下降。结果表明,块大小悖论部分源于粗糙的缩放选择。使用分层缩放或更宽格式(如UE5M3)可缓解质量损失,而4-over-6缩放启发式策略在极小块尺寸下仍能进一步提升性能。因此,下一代ML加速器需将硅片格式规范与软件缩放算法作为紧密耦合的设计决策。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Microscaling is a critical technique for preserving the quality of Large Language Models (LLMs) quantized to ultra-low precision formats. Intuitively, finer block sizes should yield lower quantization error; however, a paradox recently identified by Fasoli et al. (2026) demonstrates that standard abs-max scaling can actually result in degraded model quality as block sizes shrink. In this work, we investigate the underlying mechanics of this phenomenon. We demonstrate that this degradation is not an inherent limitation of finer granularity, but is primarily driven by how elements in smaller blocks statistically cluster closer to their local block maximum, interacting poorly with the coarse subnormal E4M3 values used as scaling factors. Specifically, we show that i) preventing the scaling factor from underflowing to zero mitigates errors caused by extreme underflow, ii) targeted algorithmic interventions like the 4-over-6 methodology that give more flexibility to the choice of scaling factor resolve the paradox for larger values, and iii) a brute-force search establishes an optimal baseline, confirming that the theoretical Mean Squared Error (MSE) strictly improves with finer block sizes. Ultimately, our findings highlight a critical insight for hardware-software co-design: the block-size paradox is partially an artifact of naive scale selection. While using hierarchical scaling factors or wider formats like UE5M3 interchangeably resolves much of the quality loss, we found the 4-over-6 scale selection heuristic can even further improve quality, especially for very small block sizes. Consequently, maximizing the performance of next-generation ML accelerators will require treating silicon format specifications and software scaling algorithms as tightly coupled design choices.
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