## Purpose
This Pull Request enhances the EPLB (Expert Parallelism Load Balancing)
system by introducing a novel balancing algorithm: FlashLB.
## Motivation
1. The default algorithm adopts a two-stage greedy strategy:
a. Replica allotment: Determine the number of expert replicas by
minimizing the maximum load per replica (Min Max Replica, MMR).
b. Replica placement: Distribute replicas across devices by repeatedly
assigning the heaviest replica to the least loaded device (Longest
Processing Time First, LPT).
However, this sequential process lacks inter-stage collaborative
optimization, often leading to suboptimal load balancing. For example,
in the simple case shown in the figure below: given 8 logical experts
with hotness values of 600, 560, 120, 120, 20, 10, 10, 10, and 2
replicas allocated per device across 8 devices, the EPLB algorithm
yields a maximum per-device hotness of 232, while our proposed FlashLB
algorithm can reduce this value to 205.
2. The default algorithm relies on the averaged expert hotness over a
fixed time window for optimization. While this provides a coarse
approximation of the hotness distribution, it fails to capture
oscillatory deviations and temporal correlations of expert hotness
observed across iterations in real-world scenarios, limiting
optimization quality.
3. The default algorithm periodically regenerates the expert placement
table. However, it generates the table for each individual layer, and
the new table does not account for correlations with the previous one;
these two factors collectively lead to nearly full-scale expert
reassignment.
## FlashLB Algorithm Principle
1. Joint Optimization
FlashLB achieves joint optimization of replica allotment and placement
through group-based decision-making. Each group gradually determines the
replica count and placement for a subset of experts, ensuring that the
expected inter-device load balance (considering both deployed and
pending expert replicas) is holistically optimized. To attain superior
load balancing, FlashLB employs tree search to expand the solution space
while integrating pruning and precompilation techniques for
acceleration, thereby delivering load balancing that is both
high-quality and practically efficient.
2. Multi-Shot Enhancement
FlashLB partitions each profiling interval (e.g., 1024 iterations) into
consecutive smaller sub-intervals (e.g., 16 iterations), each capturing
independent hotness measurements. It then performs multi-shot
optimization to co-optimize these sub-intervals simultaneously—enabling
adaptation to time-variant expert hotness while enhancing robustness.
3. Incremental Adjustment
To reduce the overhead of frequent expert re-deployment, FlashLB
introduces an incremental adjustment scheme operating at both
inter-layer and intra-layer levels:
a. Inter-Layer: Hotness variations are tracked at the layer level. Only
layers with fluctuations exceeding a predefined threshold trigger
re-computation of expert placement, avoiding unnecessary redeployment
for stable layers；
b. Intra-Layer (Optional): A lightweight incremental LPT algorithm
(LPT-Incremental) is applied. Instead of recomputing full placement for
all experts in a layer, it selectively adjusts only the hottest experts
or those with replica count changes, further reducing migration
overhead.
This incremental strategy significantly reduces adjustment costs while
maintaining balanced performance across layers and devices.
## Co-author:
Co-authored-by: Skywalker-EP 173723846@qq.com
- vLLM version: v0.10.2
- vLLM main:
9607d5eb44
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