Include eval_net the validation model in the estimator api

python/mxnet/gluon/contrib/estimator/estimator.py

@@ -59,9 +59,29 @@ class Estimator(object):
         Trainer to apply optimizer on network parameters.
     context : Context or list of Context
         Device(s) to run the training on.
-    evaluation_loss: gluon.loss.loss
-        Loss (objective) function to calculate during evaluation. If set evaluation_loss
+    evaluation_loss : gluon.loss.loss
+        Loss (objective) function to calculate during validation. If set evaluation_loss
         None, it will use the same loss function as self.loss
+    eval_net : gluon.Block
+        The model used for validation. The validation model does not necessarily belong to
+        the same model class as the training model. But the two models typically share the
+        same architecture. Therefore the validation model can reuse parameters of the
+        training model.
+
+        The code example of consruction of eval_net sharing the same network parameters as
+        the training net is given below:
+
+        >>> net = _get_train_network()
+        >>> eval_net = _get_test_network(params=net.collect_params())
+        >>> net.initialize(ctx=ctx)
+        >>> est = Estimator(net, loss, eval_net=eval_net)
+
+        Proper namespace match is required for weight sharing between two networks. Most networks
+        inheriting :py:class:`Block` can share their parameters correctly. An exception is
+        Sequential networks that Block scope must be specified for correct weight sharing. For
+        the  naming in mxnet Gluon API, please refer to the site
+        (https://mxnet.apache.org/api/python/docs/tutorials/packages/gluon/blocks/naming.html)
+        for future information.
 
     """
 
@@ -89,7 +109,8 @@ def __init__(self, net,
                  initializer=None,
                  trainer=None,
                  context=None,
-                 evaluation_loss=None):
+                 evaluation_loss=None,
+                 eval_net=None):
         self.net = net
         self.loss = self._check_loss(loss)
         self._train_metrics = _check_metrics(metrics)
@@ -98,6 +119,9 @@ def __init__(self, net,
         self.evaluation_loss = self.loss
         if evaluation_loss is not None:
             self.evaluation_loss = self._check_loss(evaluation_loss)
+        self.eval_net = self.net
+        if eval_net is not None:
+            self.eval_net = eval_net
 
         self.logger = logging.Logger(name='Estimator', level=logging.INFO)
         self.logger.addHandler(logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout))
@@ -234,7 +258,7 @@ def evaluate_batch(self,
             Batch axis to split the validation data into devices.
         """
         data, label = self._get_data_and_label(val_batch, self.context, batch_axis)
-        pred = [self.net(x) for x in data]
+        pred = [self.eval_net(x) for x in data]
         loss = [self.evaluation_loss(y_hat, y) for y_hat, y in zip(pred, label)]
         # update metrics
         for metric in val_metrics:

tests/python/unittest/test_gluon_estimator.py

@@ -29,11 +29,16 @@
 from nose.tools import assert_raises
 
 
-def _get_test_network():
-    net = nn.Sequential()
+def _get_test_network(params=None):
+    net = nn.Sequential(params=params)
     net.add(nn.Dense(4, activation='relu', flatten=False))
     return net
 
+def _get_test_network_with_namescope(params=None):
+    net = nn.Sequential(params=params)
+    with net.name_scope():
+        net.add(nn.Dense(4, activation='relu', flatten=False))
+    return net
 
 def _get_test_data():
     batch_size = 4
@@ -371,3 +376,69 @@ def test_default_handlers():
     assert isinstance(handlers[0], GradientUpdateHandler)
     assert isinstance(handlers[1], MetricHandler)
     assert isinstance(handlers[4], LoggingHandler)
+
+def test_eval_net():
+    ''' test estimator with a different evaluation net '''
+    ''' test weight sharing of sequential networks without namescope '''
+    net = _get_test_network()
+    eval_net = _get_test_network(params=net.collect_params())
+    dataloader, dataiter = _get_test_data()
+    num_epochs = 1
+    ctx = mx.cpu()
+    loss = gluon.loss.L2Loss()
+    evaluation_loss = gluon.loss.L2Loss()
+    acc = mx.metric.Accuracy()
+    net.initialize(ctx=ctx)
+    trainer = gluon.Trainer(net.collect_params(), 'sgd', {'learning_rate': 0.001})
+    est = Estimator(net=net,
+                    loss=loss,
+                    metrics=acc,
+                    trainer=trainer,
+                    context=ctx,
+                    evaluation_loss=evaluation_loss,
+                    eval_net=eval_net)
+
+    with assert_raises(RuntimeError):
+        est.fit(train_data=dataloader,
+                val_data=dataloader,
+                epochs=num_epochs)
+
+    ''' test weight sharing of sequential networks with namescope '''
+    net = _get_test_network_with_namescope()
+    eval_net = _get_test_network_with_namescope(params=net.collect_params())
+    net.initialize(ctx=ctx)
+    trainer = gluon.Trainer(net.collect_params(), 'sgd', {'learning_rate': 0.001})
+    est = Estimator(net=net,
+                    loss=loss,
+                    metrics=acc,
+                    trainer=trainer,
+                    context=ctx,
+                    evaluation_loss=evaluation_loss,
+                    eval_net=eval_net)
+
+    est.fit(train_data=dataloader,
+            val_data=dataloader,
+            epochs=num_epochs)
+
+    ''' test weight sharing of two resnets '''
+    net = gluon.model_zoo.vision.resnet18_v1(pretrained=False, ctx=ctx)
+    net.output = gluon.nn.Dense(10)
+    eval_net = gluon.model_zoo.vision.resnet18_v1(pretrained=False, ctx=ctx)
+    eval_net.output = gluon.nn.Dense(10, params=net.collect_params())
+    dataset = gluon.data.ArrayDataset(mx.nd.zeros((10, 3, 224, 224)), mx.nd.zeros((10, 10)))
+    dataloader = gluon.data.DataLoader(dataset=dataset, batch_size=5)
+    net.initialize(ctx=ctx)
+    eval_net.initialize(ctx=ctx)
+    trainer = gluon.Trainer(net.collect_params(), 'sgd', {'learning_rate': 0.001})
+    est = Estimator(net=net,
+                    loss=loss,
+                    metrics=acc,
+                    trainer=trainer,
+                    context=ctx,
+                    evaluation_loss=evaluation_loss,
+                    eval_net=eval_net)
+
+    est.fit(train_data=dataloader,
+            val_data=dataloader,
+            epochs=num_epochs)
+