Exploring Context Window of Large Language Models via Decomposed Positional Vectors

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Dong, Zican, Li, Junyi, Men, Xin, Zhao, Wayne Xin, Wang, Bingbing, Tian, Zhen, Chen, Weipeng, Wen, Ji-Rong
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Dong, Zican
Li, Junyi
Men, Xin
Zhao, Wayne Xin
Wang, Bingbing
Tian, Zhen
Chen, Weipeng
Wen, Ji-Rong
author_facet Dong, Zican
Li, Junyi
Men, Xin
Zhao, Wayne Xin
Wang, Bingbing
Tian, Zhen
Chen, Weipeng
Wen, Ji-Rong
contents Transformer-based large language models (LLMs) typically have a limited context window, resulting in significant performance degradation when processing text beyond the length of the context window. Extensive studies have been proposed to extend the context window and achieve length extrapolation of LLMs, but there is still a lack of in-depth interpretation of these approaches. In this study, we explore the positional information within and beyond the context window for deciphering the underlying mechanism of LLMs. By using a mean-based decomposition method, we disentangle positional vectors from hidden states of LLMs and analyze their formation and effect on attention. Furthermore, when texts exceed the context window, we analyze the change of positional vectors in two settings, i.e., direct extrapolation and context window extension. Based on our findings, we design two training-free context window extension methods, positional vector replacement and attention window extension. Experimental results show that our methods can effectively extend the context window length.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_18009
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring Context Window of Large Language Models via Decomposed Positional Vectors
Dong, Zican
Li, Junyi
Men, Xin
Zhao, Wayne Xin
Wang, Bingbing
Tian, Zhen
Chen, Weipeng
Wen, Ji-Rong
Computation and Language
Machine Learning
Transformer-based large language models (LLMs) typically have a limited context window, resulting in significant performance degradation when processing text beyond the length of the context window. Extensive studies have been proposed to extend the context window and achieve length extrapolation of LLMs, but there is still a lack of in-depth interpretation of these approaches. In this study, we explore the positional information within and beyond the context window for deciphering the underlying mechanism of LLMs. By using a mean-based decomposition method, we disentangle positional vectors from hidden states of LLMs and analyze their formation and effect on attention. Furthermore, when texts exceed the context window, we analyze the change of positional vectors in two settings, i.e., direct extrapolation and context window extension. Based on our findings, we design two training-free context window extension methods, positional vector replacement and attention window extension. Experimental results show that our methods can effectively extend the context window length.
title Exploring Context Window of Large Language Models via Decomposed Positional Vectors
topic Computation and Language
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.18009