ConvNeXT model architecture

Introduction:

ConvNeXt is a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture that was proposed in the paper "ConvNeXt: A ConvNet for the 2020s". It is designed to be efficient, scalable, and accurate. This article at OpenGenus will explain about the ConvNeXT model and its architecture.

How it all started... :

ConvNeXt builds on the design of ResNeXt, which is another CNN architecture that has been shown to be very effective for image classification. ConvNeXt makes a number of improvements over ResNeXt, including:

Using depthwise convolutions instead of standard convolutions. Depthwise convolutions operate on each channel of the input feature map independently, which can reduce the number of parameters and computation required.
Using a more efficient attention mechanism. ConvNeXt uses a multi-head attention mechanism that is more efficient than the self-attention mechanism used in ResNeXt.
Using a more efficient normalization layer. ConvNeXt uses the Group Normalization layer, which is more efficient than the Batch Normalization layer used in ResNeXt.
These improvements allow ConvNeXt to achieve state-of-the-art results on a number of image classification benchmarks, including ImageNet, CIFAR-10, and CIFAR-100.

Inspired by Vision Transformer powered by convolutional neural network:

The ConvNeXt model architecture is a pure convolutional neural network (CNN) that is inspired by the design of Vision Transformers (ViTs). It is designed to be accurate, efficient, scalable, and simple.

The ConvNeXt model architecture consists of a stack of residual blocks, each of which consists of a depthwise convolution, a pointwise convolution, and a residual connection. The depthwise convolution is a special case of grouped convolution where the number of groups equals the number of channels. This allows the depthwise convolution to operate on a per-channel basis, which is similar to the weighted sum operation in self-attention.

The pointwise convolution is a standard convolutional layer that operates on the output of the depthwise convolution. The residual connection adds the output of the depthwise convolution to the output of the pointwise convolution. This allows the ConvNeXt model to learn residual representations, which are often more robust to noise and occlusion than traditional convolutional representations.
The ConvNeXt model architecture also uses a number of other techniques that are commonly used in ViTs, such as attention, normalization, and dropout. These techniques help to improve the accuracy and stability of the ConvNeXt model.

The ConvNeXt model has been shown to achieve state-of-the-art results on a variety of image classification tasks. It is a promising new approach to image classification that combines the strengths of CNNs and ViTs.

ConvNeXt model Architecture:

  • Residual blocks:
    The ConvNeXt model architecture consists of a stack of residual blocks. Each residual block consists of the following layers:
    Depthwise convolution: The depthwise convolution is a special case of grouped convolution where the number of groups equals the number of channels. This allows the depthwise convolution to operate on a per-channel basis, which is similar to the weighted sum operation in self-attention.

  • Pointwise convolution:
    The pointwise convolution is a standard convolutional layer that operates on the output of the depthwise convolution.
    Residual connection: The residual connection adds the output of the depthwise convolution to the output of the pointwise convolution.

  • Attention:
    The ConvNeXt model architecture also uses attention. Attention is a mechanism that allows the model to learn long-range dependencies between different parts of the input image.

  • Normalization:
    The ConvNeXt model architecture also uses normalization. Normalization is a technique that helps to stabilize the training process and improve the accuracy of the model.

  • Dropout:
    The ConvNeXt model architecture also uses dropout. Dropout is a technique that helps to prevent the model from overfitting the training data.
    The ConvNeXt model architecture is a promising new approach to image classification that combines the strengths of CNNs and ViTs. It has been shown to achieve state-of-the-art results on a variety of image classification tasks.

ConvNeXT model Design:

ConvNeXT evolves the ResNet model to align with ViT principles and enhance its performance. The following key modifications are made:

  • Modernizing a Standard ResNet:
    Starting with a ResNet-50, we employ techniques inspired by ViTs, such as training with the AdamW optimizer, increasing training epochs, and applying extensive data augmentation and regularization. These modifications elevate the ResNet-50's ImageNet Top1 accuracy from 76.1% to 78.8%.

  • Redesigning the Macro Design of ResNet:
    The number of blocks in each stage is adjusted, aligning them with the ViT's patch-like behavior. Sliding windows are used with a large kernel size and non-overlapping stride, similar to the non-overlapping patches in ViTs. This redesign contributes to further performance improvements.

  • Inception-like Approach:
    We adopt the idea of inception previously introduced by ResNeXt. Depthwise convolutions, a form of grouped convolutions, are utilized to split, transform, and merge information. These convolutions operate per-channel, akin to self-attention in transformers, resulting in significant performance enhancements.

  • Inverted Bottleneck:
    Inspired by the Swin Transformer, ConvNeXT incorporates an inverted bottleneck with an expansion ratio of 4, following the example set by MobileNetV2. This addition further boosts the model's performance.

  • Increased Kernel Size:
    To match the power of ViT models with a global receptive field, the kernel sizes are increased. This aligns with the Swin Transformer's approach of limiting self-attention windows, providing a similar compromise.

Micro Design Choices:

ConvNeXT introduces several micro design choices that makes it unique:

  • Activation Function:
    The Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) is replaced with the Gaussian Error Linear Unit (GELU) used in ViTs, BERT, and GPT-2 models.
    Normalization Layers: Fewer normalization layers are used as transformers employ them less frequently. Batch Normalization (BL) is replaced with Layer Normalization (LN).

  • Downsampling:
    Separate downsampling layers are employed, impacting performance significantly.

Variants of ConvNeXT:

  • ConvNeXT-Lite: A lighter variant of ConvNeXT is introduced by reducing the number of channels and layers, allowing for faster inference while sacrificing some performance.

  • ConvNeXT-Small: This variant explores a smaller architecture by modifying the block configurations, achieving a balance between computational efficiency and performance.

Conclusion:

ConvNeXT bridges the gap between ConvNets and Vision Transformers by evolving the ResNet model. By borrowing successful ideas from ViTs, ConvNeXT achieves competitive performance in image classification tasks, including general-purpose computer vision tasks like image segmentation and object detection. The study highlights the significance of architecture hyperparameters in achieving state-of-the-art results, proving that ConvNeXT can keep pace with evolving trends in deep learning.