Deploying Quantized LLMs for Efficient Inference
Chapter 1: Advanced LLM Quantization Fundamentals
Revisiting Quantization Principles for Large Models
Low-Bit Quantization Techniques (Below INT8)
Understanding Quantization Data Types and Formats
Post-Training Quantization (PTQ) Algorithms for LLMs
Quantization-Aware Training (QAT) Considerations
Mixed-Precision Quantization Strategies
Calibration Data Selection and Preparation
Hands-on Practical: Applying GPTQ to an LLM
Chapter 2: Implementing LLM Quantization with Toolkits
Overview of LLM Quantization Libraries
Using bitsandbytes for Low-Bit Operations
Quantization with Hugging Face Transformers and Accelerate
Applying GPTQ using AutoGPTQ
Applying AWQ using AutoAWQ
Comparing Toolkit Outputs and Performance
Handling Model Compatibility Issues
Practice: Quantizing Models with Multiple Toolkits
Chapter 3: Performance Evaluation of Quantized LLMs
Metrics for Quantized Model Evaluation
Measuring Inference Latency and Throughput
Assessing Memory Consumption (Disk and Runtime)
Evaluating Accuracy Degradation
Benchmarking Frameworks and Tools
Analyzing Performance on Target Hardware
Visualizing Performance Trade-offs
Hands-on Practical: Benchmarking a Quantized LLM
Chapter 4: Optimizing and Deploying Quantized LLMs
Inference Optimization Techniques Post-Quantization
Choosing the Right Deployment Framework
Deploying with Text Generation Inference (TGI)
Leveraging vLLM for High-Throughput Inference
GPU Optimization with NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM
Deployment using ONNX Runtime
Containerization and Scaling Strategies
Monitoring Deployed Quantized Models
Hands-on Practical: Deploying via an Inference Server
Chapter 5: Addressing Advanced Challenges
Mitigating Accuracy Loss in Low-Bit Regimes
Handling Activation and Weight Outliers
Quantizing Specific LLM Components (Attention, Normalization)
Hardware Constraints and Kernel Availability
Dynamic Quantization vs. Static Quantization Trade-offs
Debugging Quantization Issues
Integrating Quantized Models into Production Pipelines
Practice: Fine-tuning Quantization Parameters
Analyzing Performance on Target Hardware
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- GPTQ: Accurate Post-Training Quantization for Generative Pre-trained Transformers, Elias Frantar, Saleh Ashkboos, Torsten Hoefler, Dan Alistarh, 2022 International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) 2023 DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2210.17323 - This paper introduces GPTQ, a post-training quantization method for LLMs, specifically targeting low bit-widths like INT4, which is relevant to the section's discussion on INT4 quantization and its performance implications.
- AWQ: Activation-aware Weight Quantization for LLM Inference, Ji Lin, Jiaming Tang, Haotian Tang, Shang Yang, Wei-Ming Chen, Wei-Chen Wang, Guangxuan Xiao, Xingyu Dang, Chuang Gan, Song Han, 2023 arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.00978 DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2306.00978 - This paper presents AWQ, another weight quantization technique for LLMs, providing an alternative perspective and methodology to GPTQ for achieving efficient low-bit inference on target hardware.
- NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM User Guide, NVIDIA Corporation, 2025 (NVIDIA) - This official documentation provides comprehensive details on optimizing and deploying LLMs for NVIDIA GPUs using TensorRT-LLM, covering aspects like kernel optimization, various quantization formats, and hardware-specific performance tuning.
- Intel oneAPI Deep Neural Network Library (oneDNN) Documentation, Intel Corporation, 2024 (Intel Corporation) - This documentation provides details on a highly optimized open-source deep learning library for Intel CPUs, explaining how it leverages instruction set extensions (like AVX-512 VNNI) for efficient deep learning inference, including quantized operations.