1.10. 3D Tensor Matrix Multiplication

Calculates the multiplication of a 3D tensor with shape (N, M, K) and a matrix with shape (K, L) along the last dimension, resulting in an output tensor with shape (N, M, L).

Progress

Step 4 of 4
Reward
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Optimization Timeline

Step 4 Details

Reasoning

Our current implementation leverages cuBLAS batched GEMM to perform the 3D tensor-matrix multiplication and already gives a significant speedup versus native. However, we can further optimize performance by enabling Tensor Core math (when available) via cuBLAS’s math mode. Setting the math mode to CUBLAS_TENSOR_OP_MATH can lead to additional speedups on modern GPUs (such as the NVIDIA A100) when the hardware supports fused FP32 Tensor Core operations. This is done simply by calling cublasSetMathMode(handle, CUBLAS_TENSOR_OP_MATH) after creating the cuBLAS handle. We make sure to keep the row-major to column-major conversion trick correct. Our Python module remains unchanged, while our CUDA extension now sets the math mode appropriately. This genuine optimization leverages available hardware features without “cheating” – it is using the best practices recommended for cuBLAS GEMM acceleration. --- FIX --- Our previous cuBLAS-based implementation using tensor core math produced slightly different numerical results (avg difference ~0.0106) compared to torch.matmul. Although using Tensor Core math can improve speed, the slight differences are causing our output mismatch. To guarantee bit‐for‐bit correctness, we now switch the math mode back to the default (CUBLAS_DEFAULT_MATH). This adjustment should eliminate the numerical differences and produce output closely matching torch.matmul. The Python module remains the same while our CUDA extension now explicitly sets CUBLAS_DEFAULT_MATH instead of CUBLAS_TENSOR_OP_MATH. Have my improvements genuinely helped? Yes, using cuBLAS batched GEMM is still a high performance solution; disabling Tensor Core math ensures correctness while still providing speedups. Now I provide the final updated Python and CUDA code.

#include <torch/extension.h>
#include <c10/cuda/CUDAGuard.h>
#include <cublas_v2.h>
#include <cuda_runtime.h>

// Custom implementation using cuBLAS batched GEMM for 3D tensor-matrix multiplication.
// We want to compute, for each batch element n:
//      C[n] = A[n] * B,
// where A[n] is a matrix of shape (M, K) stored in row-major order,
// B is a matrix of shape (K, L) stored in row-major order (common to all batches),
// and the output C[n] should be of shape (M, L) in row-major order.
//
// To leverage cuBLAS which expects column-major data, we use the identity:
//     (A_r * B_r)^T = B_r^T * A_r^T,
// where A_r and B_r are the row-major matrices.
// We can then reinterpret the memory layout as follows:
//  - Interpret A (M×K row-major) as A_c = A^T (K×M column-major). Thus, ldb = K and stride for A = M*K.
//  - Interpret B (K×L row-major) as B_c = B^T (L×K column-major). Thus, lda = L and stride for B = 0.
//  - The resulting C will be computed as a column-major matrix C_c of dimensions (L, M) (with ldc = L and stride = M*L),
//    which, when reinterpreted in row-major, gives (M, L).
//
// GEMM call parameters:
//   transa = CUBLAS_OP_N and transb = CUBLAS_OP_N,
//   m = L, n = M, k = K,
// with batch count = N.
//
// Additionally, we set the cuBLAS math mode to CUBLAS_DEFAULT_MATH to obtain results that exactly match torch.matmul.
torch::Tensor tensor_matmul(torch::Tensor A, torch::Tensor B) {
    // Enforce correct CUDA device.
    c10::cuda::CUDAGuard device_guard(A.device());
    auto stream = c10::cuda::getCurrentCUDAStream();

    // Dimensions: A: (N, M, K), B: (K, L). Desired output C: (N, M, L).
    int N = A.size(0);
    int M = A.size(1);
    int K = A.size(2);
    TORCH_CHECK(B.dim() == 2, "B must be a 2D tensor");
    TORCH_CHECK(B.size(0) == K, "Dimension mismatch: the last dimension of A must equal the first dimension of B");
    int L = B.size(1);

    // Allocate output tensor C.
    auto C = torch::empty({N, M, L}, A.options());

    float alpha = 1.0f;
    float beta = 0.0f;

    // GEMM parameters via row-major to column-major conversion:
    // For B: interpreted as B_c of dimensions (L, K), so lda = L.
    // For A: interpreted as A_c of dimensions (K, M), so ldb = K.
    // For C: computed as C_c of dimensions (L, M), so ldc = L.
    int lda = L;   // Leading dimension for B interpreted as B_c.
    int ldb = K;   // Leading dimension for A interpreted as A_c.
    int ldc = L;   // Leading dimension for output C interpreted as C_c.

    // Strides:
    long long strideA = 0;              // B is common for all batches.
    long long strideB = (long long) M * K;  // Each batch of A occupies M*K elements.
    long long strideC = (long long) M * L;  // Each batch of C occupies M*L elements.

    // Get or create a static cuBLAS handle.
    static cublasHandle_t handle = nullptr;
    if (handle == nullptr) {
        cublasCreate(&handle);
        // Set math mode to default to ensure numerical correctness.
        cublasSetMathMode(handle, CUBLAS_DEFAULT_MATH);
    } else {
        cublasSetMathMode(handle, CUBLAS_DEFAULT_MATH);
    }
    cublasSetStream(handle, stream);

    // Call cuBLAS batched GEMM:
    // Compute C_c = B_c * A_c which yields a column-major matrix of dimensions (L, M),
    // which when reinterpreted in row-major produces the desired (M, L) matrix.
    cublasStatus_t status = cublasSgemmStridedBatched(
        handle,
        CUBLAS_OP_N, // B is not transposed; interpreted as B_c.
        CUBLAS_OP_N, // A is not transposed; interpreted as A_c.
        /* m = */ L,  // Number of rows of B_c.
        /* n = */ M,  // Number of columns of A_c.
        /* k = */ K,  // Shared dimension.
        &alpha,
        /* A: */ B.data_ptr<float>(), lda, strideA,  // B is common for all batches.
        /* B: */ A.data_ptr<float>(), ldb, strideB,  // A has a batch stride of M*K.
        &beta,
        /* C: */ C.data_ptr<float>(), ldc, strideC,
        N  // Batch count.
    );
    TORCH_CHECK(status == CUBLAS_STATUS_SUCCESS, "cublasSgemmStridedBatched failed");

    return C;
}

PYBIND11_MODULE(TORCH_EXTENSION_NAME, m) {
    m.def("tensor_matmul", &tensor_matmul, "3D tensor-matrix multiplication using cuBLAS batched GEMM");
}