Add round_scales_to_power_of_2 option for float quantization

This adds support for rounding scaling factors down to the nearest power of 2
for float quantization, following the pattern established in Float8LinearConfig.

Key changes:
- Add round_scales_to_power_of_2 parameter to all float quantization configs
- Update choose_qparams_affine_floatx and to_scaled_tc_floatx functions to apply power of 2 rounding
- Thread the parameter through all relevant function calls in quant_api.py
- Maintain backward compatibility with default value of False

This helps reduce quantization error by avoiding rounding errors when
multiplying/dividing by scaling factors and ensures consistent quantization
between forward and backward passes.

stack-info: PR: #2323, branch: drisspg/stack/67

Author: drisspg

.github/workflows/float8_test.yml

@@ -25,14 +25,14 @@ jobs:
         include:
           - name: SM-89
             runs-on: linux.g6.4xlarge.experimental.nvidia.gpu
-            torch-spec: '--pre torch --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/nightly/cu126'
+            torch-spec: '--pre torch --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/nightly/cu128'
             gpu-arch-type: "cuda"
-            gpu-arch-version: "12.6"
+            gpu-arch-version: "12.8"
           - name: H100
             runs-on: linux.aws.h100
-            torch-spec: '--pre torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/nightly/cu126'
+            torch-spec: '--pre torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/nightly/cu128'
             gpu-arch-type: "cuda"
-            gpu-arch-version: "12.4"
+            gpu-arch-version: "12.8"
     permissions:
       id-token: write
       contents: read

test/dtypes/test_affine_quantized_float.py

@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@
 from torchao.dtypes.floatx.float8_layout import Float8AQTTensorImpl, preprocess_scale
 from torchao.float8.float8_utils import compute_error
 from torchao.quantization import (
+    Float8DynamicActivationFloat8SemiSparseWeightConfig,
     Float8DynamicActivationFloat8WeightConfig,
+    Float8StaticActivationFloat8WeightConfig,
+    Float8WeightOnlyConfig,
     float8_dynamic_activation_float8_weight,
     float8_weight_only,
     quantize_,
@@ -675,6 +678,100 @@ def test_preprocess_scale_3d_reshape(self):
         expected_shape = (8, 1)  # Flattened (2*2*2, 1)
         self.assertEqual(result.shape, expected_shape)
 
+    def _get_weight_scale_and_impl(self, quantized_model, config_type):
+        """Helper to extract weight scale and impl based on config type"""
+        if config_type == "weight_only":
+            weight_impl = quantized_model.weight.tensor_impl
+            return weight_impl.scale.float(), weight_impl
+        else:
+            weight_impl = quantized_model.weight.original_weight_tensor.tensor_impl
+            return weight_impl.scale.float(), weight_impl
+
+    def _verify_power_of_2_scales(self, scale):
+        """Helper to verify scales are powers of 2"""
+        log2_scale = torch.log2(scale)
+        is_power_of_2 = torch.allclose(log2_scale, torch.round(log2_scale), atol=1e-6)
+        self.assertTrue(is_power_of_2, "Scales should be powers of 2")
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(not torch.cuda.is_available(), "Need CUDA available")
+    @unittest.skipIf(
+        not is_sm_at_least_89(), "Requires GPU with compute capability >= 8.9"
+    )
+    @common_utils.parametrize(
+        "config_factory,config_type,min_sm,min_error",
+        [
+            (
+                lambda: Float8WeightOnlyConfig(round_scales_to_power_of_2=True),
+                "weight_only",
+                89,
+                15.0,
+            ),
+            (
+                lambda: Float8DynamicActivationFloat8WeightConfig(
+                    granularity=PerTensor(), round_scales_to_power_of_2=True
+                ),
+                "dynamic",
+                89,
+                12.5,
+            ),
+            (
+                lambda: Float8DynamicActivationFloat8WeightConfig(
+                    granularity=PerRow(), round_scales_to_power_of_2=True
+                ),
+                "dynamic",
+                89,
+                12.5,
+            ),
+            (
+                lambda: Float8StaticActivationFloat8WeightConfig(
+                    scale=torch.tensor(1.0, dtype=torch.float32, device="cuda"),
+                    granularity=PerTensor(),
+                    round_scales_to_power_of_2=True,
+                ),
+                "static",
+                89,
+                15.0,
+            ),
+            (
+                lambda: Float8DynamicActivationFloat8SemiSparseWeightConfig(
+                    round_scales_to_power_of_2=True
+                ),
+                "dynamic",
+                90,
+                10.0,
+            ),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_power_of_2_scaling_configs(
+        self, config_factory, config_type, min_sm, min_error
+    ):
+        if min_sm == 90 and not is_sm_at_least_90():
+            self.skipTest("Requires GPU with compute capability >= 9.0")
+
+        device = "cuda"
+        dtype = torch.bfloat16
+        model = torch.nn.Linear(64, 32, bias=False).to(device).to(dtype)
+
+        config = config_factory()
+        if isinstance(
+            config, Float8DynamicActivationFloat8SemiSparseWeightConfig
+        ) and not is_sm_version(9, 0):
+            self.skipTest("Float8SemiSparse requires compute capability == 9.0")
+        quantized_model = copy.deepcopy(model)
+        quantize_(quantized_model, config)
+
+        scale, _ = self._get_weight_scale_and_impl(quantized_model, config_type)
+        self._verify_power_of_2_scales(scale)
+
+        input_tensor = torch.randn(8, 64, device=device, dtype=dtype)
+        with torch.no_grad():
+            ref_output = model(input_tensor)
+            quant_output = quantized_model(input_tensor)
+
+        self.assertEqual(ref_output.shape, quant_output.shape)
+        error = compute_error(ref_output, quant_output)
+        self.assertGreater(error, min_error, f"Quantization SQNR too low: {error}")
+
 
 common_utils.instantiate_parametrized_tests(TestAffineQuantizedFloat8Compile)
 

torchao/dtypes/affine_quantized_tensor.py

@@ -457,13 +457,17 @@ def from_hp_to_floatx(
         target_dtype: torch.dtype,
         _layout: Layout,
         scale_dtype: Optional[torch.dtype] = None,
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False,
     ):
         """Convert a high precision tensor to a float8 quantized tensor."""
         if target_dtype in FP8_TYPES:
             original_shape = input_float.shape
             input_float = _layout.pre_process(input_float)
             scale = _choose_qparams_affine_float8(
-                input_float, float8_dtype=target_dtype, block_size=block_size
+                input_float,
+                float8_dtype=target_dtype,
+                block_size=block_size,
+                round_scales_to_power_of_2=round_scales_to_power_of_2,
             )
             data = _quantize_affine_float8(input_float, scale, target_dtype)
             data, scale, zero_point = _layout.post_process(
@@ -530,6 +534,7 @@ def from_hp_to_fpx(
         cls,
         input_float: torch.Tensor,
         _layout: Layout,
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False,
     ):
         """Create a floatx AffineQuantizedTensor from a high precision tensor. Floatx is represented as ebits and mbits, and supports the representation of float1-float7."""
         from torchao.dtypes.floatx import FloatxTensorCoreLayout
@@ -545,7 +550,9 @@ def from_hp_to_fpx(
 
         ebits, mbits = _layout.ebits, _layout.mbits
         # Note: these ops are hardcoded to have per axis quantization (axis=1) right now
-        scale = _choose_qparams_affine_floatx(input_float, ebits, mbits)
+        scale = _choose_qparams_affine_floatx(
+            input_float, ebits, mbits, round_scales_to_power_of_2
+        )
         floatx_unpacked = _quantize_affine_floatx(input_float, scale, ebits, mbits)
         floatx_packed, scale, _ = _layout.post_process(
             floatx_unpacked, scale, None, block_size

torchao/dtypes/floatx/floatx_tensor_core_layout.py

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     AQTTensorImpl,
     Layout,
 )
+from torchao.float8.float8_utils import _round_scale_down_to_power_of_2
 from torchao.prototype.custom_fp_utils import (
     _f32_to_floatx_unpacked,
     _floatx_unpacked_to_f32,
@@ -214,7 +215,7 @@ def pack_tc_floatx(tensor: Tensor, nbits: int) -> Tensor:
 
 
 def to_scaled_tc_floatx(
-    tensor: Tensor, ebits: int, mbits: int
+    tensor: Tensor, ebits: int, mbits: int, round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False
 ) -> Tuple[Tensor, Tensor]:
     # _n_ones() is not compatible with torch.compile() due to << operator
     # https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch/issues/119152
@@ -230,6 +231,8 @@ def to_scaled_tc_floatx(
     dtype = tensor.dtype
     tensor = tensor.float()
     scale = tensor.abs().amax(1).clamp(min=1e-12) / max_normal
+    if round_scales_to_power_of_2:
+        scale = _round_scale_down_to_power_of_2(scale.float())
     tensor_floatx = _f32_to_floatx_unpacked(tensor / scale.view(-1, 1), ebits, mbits)
     tensor_tc_floatx = pack_tc_floatx(tensor_floatx, 1 + ebits + mbits)
     return tensor_tc_floatx, scale.to(dtype)

torchao/float8/float8_utils.py

@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ def pad_tensor_for_matmul(
     return torch.nn.functional.pad(tensor, (0, pad_dim2, 0, pad_dim1))
 
 
-def _round_scale_down_to_power_of_2(scale: torch.Tensor):
+def _round_scale_down_to_power_of_2(scale: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
+    """Rounds the scale down to the nearest power of 2."""
     assert scale.dtype == torch.float32, "scale must be float32 tensor"
     return torch.exp2(torch.floor(torch.log2(scale)))

torchao/quantization/quant_api.py

@@ -1281,26 +1281,30 @@ def _int4_symm_cutlass_quant(x: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
 def _float8_cutlass_quant(
     x: torch.Tensor,
     target_dtype: torch.dtype,
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False,
 ) -> torch.Tensor:
     return to_affine_quantized_floatx(
         x,
         block_size=_get_per_token_block_size(x),
         scale_dtype=torch.float32,
         target_dtype=target_dtype,
         _layout=Float8Layout(mm_config=None),
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2=round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     )
 
 
 def _float8_cutlass_quant_sparse(
     x: torch.Tensor,
     target_dtype: torch.dtype,
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False,
 ) -> (torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor):
     return to_affine_quantized_floatx(
         x,
         block_size=_get_per_token_block_size(x),
         scale_dtype=torch.float32,
         target_dtype=target_dtype,
         _layout=CutlassSemiSparseLayout(),
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2=round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     )
 
 
@@ -1410,13 +1414,15 @@ class Float8WeightOnlyConfig(AOBaseConfig):
     Args:
         weight_dtype (torch.dtype): The target data type for weight quantization. Default is torch.float8_e4m3fn.
         set_inductor_config (bool): if True, adjusts `torchinductor` settings to recommended values.
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2 (bool): If True, round scaling factors down to the nearest power of 2.
 
     Note:
         The actual matmul will be computed in original precision of the weight tensor.
     """
 
     weight_dtype: torch.dtype = e4m3_dtype
     set_inductor_config: bool = True
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False
 
 
 # for BC
@@ -1433,6 +1439,7 @@ def _float8_weight_only_quant_tensor(weight, config):
         target_dtype=config.weight_dtype,
         scale_dtype=None,
         _layout=Float8Layout(mm_config=None),
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2=config.round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     )
     return new_weight
 
@@ -1461,6 +1468,7 @@ def _input_activation_quant_func_fp8(
     activation_dtype: torch.dtype,
     scale: Optional[torch.Tensor] = None,
     zero_point: Optional[torch.Tensor] = None,
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False,
 ):
     """This function is used to quantize the input activation tensor for an aqt_float variant. If scale
     is not provided it will be dynamically calculate the scales otherwise it will use the provided scale.
@@ -1481,6 +1489,7 @@ def _input_activation_quant_func_fp8(
             target_dtype=activation_dtype,
             scale_dtype=torch.float32,
             _layout=Float8Layout(mm_config=None),  # Config is stored on weight
+            round_scales_to_power_of_2=round_scales_to_power_of_2,
         )
     else:
         assert isinstance(activation_granularity, PerTensor), (
@@ -1538,6 +1547,7 @@ class Float8DynamicActivationFloat8WeightConfig(AOBaseConfig):
             only PerTensor and PerRow are supported.
         mm_config (Float8MMConfig): Configuration for the matrix multiplication. Default uses fast accumulation.
         set_inductor_config (bool): if True, adjusts `torchinductor` settings to recommended values.
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2 (bool): If True, round scaling factors down to the nearest power of 2.
 
     """
 
@@ -1546,6 +1556,7 @@ class Float8DynamicActivationFloat8WeightConfig(AOBaseConfig):
     granularity: Optional[Union[FP8Granularity, List[FP8Granularity]]] = None
     mm_config: Optional[Float8MMConfig] = None
     set_inductor_config: bool = True
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False
 
     def __post_init__(self):
         if self.mm_config is None:
@@ -1589,12 +1600,14 @@ def _float8_dynamic_activation_float8_weight_quantize_tensor(weight, config):
         target_dtype=weight_dtype,
         scale_dtype=torch.float32,
         _layout=Float8Layout(mm_config=mm_config),
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2=config.round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     )
 
     input_quant_func = _input_activation_quant_func_fp8
     input_quant_kwargs = {
         "activation_granularity": activation_granularity,
         "activation_dtype": activation_dtype,
+        "round_scales_to_power_of_2": config.round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     }
 
     quantized_weight = to_linear_activation_quantized(
@@ -1634,11 +1647,13 @@ class Float8DynamicActivationFloat8SemiSparseWeightConfig(AOBaseConfig):
         `layout`: layout type for quantized weight tensor, only supports `CutlassSemiSparseLayout` at the moment.
         `activation_dtype`: data type for quantized activation tensor.
         `weight_dtype`: data type for quantized weight tensor.
+        `round_scales_to_power_of_2`: If True, round scaling factors down to the nearest power of 2.
     """
 
     layout: Layout = CutlassSemiSparseLayout()
     activation_dtype: torch.dtype = e5m2_dtype
     weight_dtype: torch.dtype = e4m3_dtype
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False
 
 
 @register_quantize_module_handler(Float8DynamicActivationFloat8SemiSparseWeightConfig)
@@ -1657,11 +1672,16 @@ def _float8_dynamic_activation_float8_semi_sparse_weight_transform(
             f"Only CutlassSemiSparseLayout layout is supported. Received {layout}."
         )
 
-    weight = _float8_cutlass_quant_sparse(weight, weight_dtype)
+    weight = _float8_cutlass_quant_sparse(
+        weight, weight_dtype, config.round_scales_to_power_of_2
+    )
     weight = to_linear_activation_quantized(
         weight,
         _float8_cutlass_quant,
-        quant_kwargs={"target_dtype": activation_dtype},
+        quant_kwargs={
+            "target_dtype": activation_dtype,
+            "round_scales_to_power_of_2": config.round_scales_to_power_of_2,
+        },
     )
 
     module.weight = torch.nn.Parameter(weight, requires_grad=False)
@@ -1680,6 +1700,7 @@ class Float8StaticActivationFloat8WeightConfig(AOBaseConfig):
         weight_dtype (torch.dtype): The target data type for weight quantization. Default is torch.float8_e4m
         mm_config (Float8MMConfig): Configuration for the matrix multiplication. Default uses fast accumulation.
         set_inductor_config (bool): if True, adjusts `torchinductor` settings to recommended values.
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2 (bool): If True, round scaling factors down to the nearest power of 2.
     """
 
     scale: torch.Tensor
@@ -1690,6 +1711,7 @@ class Float8StaticActivationFloat8WeightConfig(AOBaseConfig):
     ] = None
     mm_config: Optional[Float8MMConfig] = None
     set_inductor_config: bool = True
+    round_scales_to_power_of_2: bool = False
 
     def __post_init__(self):
         if self.mm_config is None:
@@ -1733,12 +1755,14 @@ def _float8_static_activation_float8_weight_transform(
         target_dtype=weight_dtype,
         scale_dtype=torch.float32,
         _layout=Float8Layout(mm_config=mm_config),
+        round_scales_to_power_of_2=config.round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     )
 
     input_quant_func = _input_activation_quant_func_fp8
     input_quant_kwargs = {
         "activation_granularity": activation_granularity,
         "activation_dtype": activation_dtype,
+        "round_scales_to_power_of_2": config.round_scales_to_power_of_2,
     }
 
     quantized_weight = to_weight_tensor_with_linear_activation_quantization_metadata(