Distributed Neural Network Training with Per-Model Dropout Noise

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional model parallelized neural networks waste calculation resources and are inefficient due to duplicate calculations in fully connected layers and excessive data communication, leading to reduced learning accuracy and increased time.

Innovation Solution

Implement a system where a neural network model is divided into distributed models, with only the convolution layer parallelized, and utilize a dropout layer with different noise settings for each model to optimize resource use and improve learning accuracy.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If all layers including convolution layer and fully connected layer are divided and parallelized, then learning accuracy is maintained, but communication load increases and processing speed decreases due to frequent synchronization

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelearning accuracyVSAvoidprocessing speed
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the neural network into two distinct parts: convolution layers that are parallelized across multiple processes, and fully connected layers that are not parallelized. This selective segmentation allows the system to benefit from parallelization in computationally intensive convolution operations while avoiding the communication overhead and accuracy degradation associated with parallelizing fully connected layers.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If only convolution layer is parallelized, then communication load is reduced, but calculation resources are wasted and processing becomes inefficient due to duplicate calculations in fully connected layers

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication efficiencyVSAvoidcalculation resource waste
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the execution of fully connected layers across all parallel processes, so that instead of each process independently executing the same fully connected layer calculations, the results are shared and utilized by all processes. This eliminates duplicate calculations in the fully connected layers while maintaining the parallelization benefits in the convolution layers.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Productivity

If batch size is increased to achieve faster parallel processing, then processing speed increases, but learning accuracy is adversely affected

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocessing speedVSAvoidlearning accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

By segmenting the network into parallelizable convolution layers and non-parallelizable fully connected layers, the system can achieve speedup without increasing batch size. The convolution layers execute in parallel across multiple processes, providing computational speedup while maintaining the original batch size and thus preserving learning accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4125001B1Machine learning program, information processing device, and machine learning method
Publication Date: 2025.11.12 FUJITSU LTD
  • EP4125001B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4125001B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4125001B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a machine learning program of controlling machine learning of distributed neural network models generated by dividing a neural network, the machine learning program including instructions for causing a processor to execute processing including: adding, for each of the distributed neural network models, an individual noise for that distributed neural network model to a non-parallel processing block in that distributed neural network model such that the individual noise for that distributed neural network model is different from the individual noise for other distributed neural network models from among the distributed neural network models; and assigning, to a plurality of processes, the distributed neural network models added with the individual noise to cause each of the plurality of processes to perform the machine learning on an assigned neural network model from among the distributed neural network models added with the individual noise.