Skip to content

reuse grad buffer for layer-wise param allgather - #3751

Merged
FDecaYed merged 4 commits into
NVIDIA:mainfrom
FDecaYed:deyuf/reuse_grad_buf
Apr 14, 2026
Merged

reuse grad buffer for layer-wise param allgather#3751
FDecaYed merged 4 commits into
NVIDIA:mainfrom
FDecaYed:deyuf/reuse_grad_buf

Conversation

@FDecaYed

@FDecaYed FDecaYed commented Mar 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

What does this PR do ?

Reuse bucket.grad_data as the receive buffer for layer-wise async param all-gather instead of allocating temporary tensors via torch.empty. During param sync (forward pass), grad_data is idle and always has sufficient bytes since grad_dtype.element_size >= param_dtype.element_size. This eliminates per-bucket temporary allocations and removes the _layerwise_src_buffer bookkeeping.

Contribution process

Pre-checks

  • I have added relevant unit tests
  • I have added relevant functional tests
  • I have added proper typing to my code Typing guidelines
  • I have added relevant documentation
  • I have run the autoformatter.sh on my PR

Code review

Feel free to message or comment the @mcore-oncall to help accelerate your merge into main. The less complex your PR is, the faster it will be approved and merged!

All PRs start as draft. If you open a non-draft PR, it will be automatically converted to draft.

Step 1: Mark PR as "Ready for Review"

  1. When your PR is ready, click Ready for Review.
  2. An oncall reviewer is auto-assigned and expert reviewers are notified based on your changes.
    • Some PRs may jump straight to step 2. This is determined by .github/CODEOWNERS.

⚠️ Only mark as ready once merge-conflicts are resolved and the CI is passing.
Final Review might get declined if these requirements are not fulfilled.

Step 2: Final Review

For PRs that change megatron/core, once all expert reviewers have approved, the Final Review label is applied automatically and final reviewers are assigned.

For PRs outside megatron/core, this step is skipped.

Step 3: Approved

Once all required reviewers have approved, the Approved label is applied automatically.

Merge

Any member of mcore-engineers will be able to merge your PR.

For MRs into `dev` branch The proposed review process for `dev` branch is under active discussion.

MRs are mergable after one approval by either eharper@nvidia.com or zijiey@nvidia.com.

@copy-pr-bot

copy-pr-bot Bot commented Mar 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

This pull request requires additional validation before any workflows can run on NVIDIA's runners.

Pull request vetters can view their responsibilities here.

Contributors can view more details about this message here.

@FDecaYed

FDecaYed commented Mar 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

/ok to test bec1750

@FDecaYed

FDecaYed commented Mar 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

/claude review

@claude claude Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

LGTM

@FDecaYed

FDecaYed commented Mar 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

/claude review

@FDecaYed

FDecaYed commented Mar 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

/ok to test f6730fc

@FDecaYed
FDecaYed marked this pull request as ready for review March 9, 2026 12:12
@FDecaYed
FDecaYed requested review from a team as code owners March 9, 2026 12:12
@svcnvidia-nemo-ci
svcnvidia-nemo-ci requested a review from a team March 9, 2026 12:12
@svcnvidia-nemo-ci svcnvidia-nemo-ci added the Final Review PR is in the "final review" stage label Mar 9, 2026
@deepakn94

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Hi Deyu, I am working on a refactor of the way parameters are assigned in the parameter buffer here: #3812.

Do you still want to merge this?

@FDecaYed

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

Hi Deyu, I am working on a refactor of the way parameters are assigned in the parameter buffer here: #3812.

Do you still want to merge this?

@deepakn94 My understanding is once optimizer control layout, inplace RS/AG become possible and this optimization might no longer be needed?

I'm not sure how long it'd take for in-place AG to happen. But since this change is quite small and not conflicting in terms of code/design, I suggest we merge this now. Even without this, the temp buffer code need to be cleaned up later and this PR doesn't make it harder(if not easier)

@deepakn94

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

@deepakn94 My understanding is once optimizer control layout, inplace RS/AG become possible and this optimization might no longer be needed?

Yes, that's right.

I'm not sure how long it'd take for in-place AG to happen. But since this change is quite small and not conflicting in terms of code/design, I suggest we merge this now. Even without this, the temp buffer code need to be cleaned up later and this PR doesn't make it harder(if not easier)

I am hopeful I can solicit reviews before the free days, but let's see.

@FDecaYed
FDecaYed enabled auto-merge March 23, 2026 12:26
@svcnvidia-nemo-ci svcnvidia-nemo-ci added Approved All necessary approvals have been made and removed Final Review PR is in the "final review" stage labels Mar 23, 2026
@deepakn94
deepakn94 disabled auto-merge April 14, 2026 02:23
@FDecaYed

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

/ok to test dd22546

@FDecaYed
FDecaYed enabled auto-merge April 14, 2026 03:32
@FDecaYed

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

/claude review

@claude claude Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

LGTM

@FDecaYed
FDecaYed added this pull request to the merge queue Apr 14, 2026
@svcnvidia-nemo-ci

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

🔄 Merge queue validation started!

You can track the progress here: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Megatron-LM/actions/runs/24381405635

Merged via the queue into NVIDIA:main with commit 28e13c4 Apr 14, 2026
63 of 64 checks passed
@FDecaYed
FDecaYed deleted the deyuf/reuse_grad_buf branch April 14, 2026 05:31
yangbofun pushed a commit to xlm-research/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request May 22, 2026
yhgalaxy pushed a commit to yhgalaxy/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Jun 17, 2026
Signed-off-by: yhgalaxy <yhgalaxy@outlook.com>
jon-barker pushed a commit to jon-barker/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Jul 10, 2026
Signed-off-by: Jon Barker <jbarker@aws-cmh-slurm-1-vscode-02.cm.cluster>
terminator123 pushed a commit to 021ai/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Aug 3, 2026
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

Approved All necessary approvals have been made complexity: low

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

5 participants