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ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0653-9908

Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Degree Type

Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (M.S.E.C.E.)

Year Degree Awarded

2023

Month Degree Awarded

September

Abstract

This thesis addresses the crucial issue of deploying large Transformer models on resource-constrained edge devices. Given the slow training speeds, the current Transformer pruning and fine-tuning process becomes tedious and time-consuming for multiple pruning configurations. To remedy this, the research proposes a novel composability-based Transformer pruning framework, aiming to significantly reduce the time required for fine-tuning pruned models across various configurations, while maintaining model performance. Unlike traditional approaches, this study explores the composability between Transformer pruning configurations, unveiling opportunities for computational reuse. It leverages this composability within a newly proposed framework, employing techniques similar to knowledge distillation and automating the process of pruning and fine-tuning. The framework demonstrated its ability to speed up the response time needed to fine-tune a model based on the given pruning configuration, making it a practical tool for real-world deployment on edge devices. The outcome of this research is a novel method that opens up a fresh perspective on Transformer model compression, offering a reference for future studies on pruning and fine-tuning of Transformer networks.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/35921636.0

First Advisor

Tongping Liu

Second Advisor

Hui Guan

Third Advisor

Sandip Kundu

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