Signal Processing Meets SGD: From Momentum to Filter

Zhipeng Yao, Guisong Chang, Jiaqi Zhang, Qi Zhang, Yu Zhang, Dazhou Li

Abstract: In deep learning, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and its momentum-based variants are widely used for optimization, but they typically suffer from slow convergence. Conversely, existing adaptive learning rate optimizers speed up convergence but often compromise generalization. To resolve this issue, we propose a novel optimization method designed to accelerate SGD's convergence without sacrificing generalization. Our approach reduces the variance of the historical gradient, improves first-order moment estimation of SGD by applying Wiener filter theory, and introduces a time-varying adaptive gain. Empirical results demonstrate that SGDF (SGD with Filter) effectively balances convergence and generalization compared to state-of-the-art optimizers.