IDInit: A Universal and Stable Initialization Method for Neural Network Training

Yu Pan, Chaozheng Wang, Zekai Wu, Qifan Wang, Min Zhang, Zenglin Xu

Keywords: Initialization, Idetity Matrix, Dynamic Isometry

TL;DR: An initialization method for fast and stable training of deep neural networks based on the identity matrix.

Abstract: Deep neural networks have achieved remarkable accomplishments in practice. The success of these networks hinges on effective initialization methods, which are vital for ensuring stable and rapid convergence during training. Recently, initialization methods that maintain identity transition within layers have shown good efficiency in network training. These techniques (e.g., Fixup) set specific weights to zero to achieve identity control. However, settings of remaining weight (e.g., Fixup uses random values to initialize non-zero weights) will affect the inductive bias that is achieved only by a zero weight, which may be harmful to training. Addressing this concern, we introduce fully identical initialization (IDInit), a novel method that preserves identity in both the main and sub-stem layers of residual networks. IDInit employs a padded identity-like matrix to overcome rank constraints in non-square weight matrices. Furthermore, we show the convergence problem of an identity matrix can be solved by stochastic gradient descent. Additionally, we enhance the universality of IDInit by processing higher-order weights and addressing dead neuron problems. IDInit is a straightforward yet effective initialization method, with improved convergence, stability, and performance across various settings, including large-scale datasets and deep models.

Primary Area: applications to computer vision, audio, language, and other modalities

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Submission Number: 6753