MetaTune: Meta-Learning Based Cost Model for Fast and Efficient Auto-tuning Frameworks

Deep learning compiler frameworks are gaining ground as a more portable back-end for deep learning applications on increasingly diverse hardware. However, they face the daunting challenge of matching performance offered by hand-tuned target-specific libraries. While auto-tuning frameworks with statistical cost models can provide dynamic and efficient code optimization, they suffer from large space exploration and cost model training overheads. This paper proposes MetaTune, a meta-learning based cost model that more quickly and accurately predicts the performance of optimized codes with pre-trained model parameters. MetaTune encodes convolution kernel codes as structurally similar graphs to facilitate meta-learning, meta-trains a GNN model with a very small input data set, and then predicts optimization parameters for unseen convolution operations with varying sizes and structures during compilation. The resulting framework with MetaTune provides 8 to 13% better inference time on average for four CNN models with comparable or lower optimization time while outperforming transfer learning by 10% in cross-platform cases.