RNN Recurrent Neural Network Regression

RNN Recurrent Neural Network Regression

Back on the horizon concern

RNN networks are rarely used for regression tasks, but it does not mean that they cannot be used for regression tasks. This article further deepens the understanding of RNN through RNN of simple regression task

1. Prepare data and hyperparameters

import torch
from torch import nn
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# torch.manual_seed(1)    # reproducible

# Hyper Parameters
TIME_STEP = 10      # rnn time step
INPUT_SIZE = 1      # rnn input size
LR = 0.02           # learning rate

# show data
steps = np.linspace(0, np.pi*2, 100, dtype=np.float32)  # float32 for converting torch FloatTensor
x_np = np.sin(steps)
y_np = np.cos(steps)
plt.plot(steps, y_np, 'r-', label='target (cos)')
plt.plot(steps, x_np, 'b-', label='input (sin)')
plt.legend(loc='best')
plt.show()

2. Build RNN neural network

class RNN(nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super(RNN, self).__init__()

        self.rnn = nn.RNN(
            input_size=INPUT_SIZE,
            hidden_size=32,     # rnn hidden unit
            num_layers=1,       # number of rnn layer
            batch_first=True,   
# input & output will has batch size as 1s dimension. e.g. (batch, time_step, input_size)
        )
        self.out = nn.Linear(32, 1)

    def forward(self, x, h_state):
        # x (batch, time_step, input_size)
        # h_state (n_layers, batch, hidden_size)
        # r_out (batch, time_step, hidden_size)
        r_out, h_state = self.rnn(x, h_state)

        outs = []    # save all predictions
        for time_step in range(r_out.size(1)):    # calculate output for each time step
            outs.append(self.out(r_out[:, time_step, :]))
        return torch.stack(outs, dim=1), h_state

        # instead, for simplicity, you can replace above codes by follows
        # r_out = r_out.view(-1, 32)
        # outs = self.out(r_out)
        # outs = outs.view(-1, TIME_STEP, 1)
        # return outs, h_state
        
        # or even simpler, since nn.Linear can accept inputs of any dimension 
        # and returns outputs with same dimension except for the last
        # outs = self.out(r_out)
        # return outs

rnn = RNN()
print(rnn)

3. Choose optimizer and loss function

optimizer = torch.optim.Adam(rnn.parameters(), lr=LR)   # optimize all cnn parameters
loss_func = nn.MSELoss()

Note:

1. adam(): We often use this function because it has better performance in various situations
2. MSELoss(): Mean square error loss function, often used in prediction models

4. Initialize data and plt image

h_state = None      # for initial hidden state

plt.figure(1, figsize=(12, 5))
plt.ion()           # continuously plot

5. Training and optimization

for step in range(100):
    start, end = step * np.pi, (step+1)*np.pi   # time range
    # use sin predicts cos
    steps = np.linspace(start, end, TIME_STEP, dtype=np.float32, endpoint=False)  
# float32 for converting torch FloatTensor
    x_np = np.sin(steps)
    y_np = np.cos(steps)

    x = torch.from_numpy(x_np[np.newaxis, :, np.newaxis])    
# shape (batch, time_step, input_size)
    y = torch.from_numpy(y_np[np.newaxis, :, np.newaxis])

    prediction, h_state = rnn(x, h_state)   # rnn output
    # !! next step is important !!
    h_state = h_state.data        
# repack the hidden state, break the connection from last iteration

    loss = loss_func(prediction, y)         # calculate loss
    optimizer.zero_grad()                   # clear gradients for this training step
    loss.backward()                         # backpropagation, compute gradients
    optimizer.step()                        # apply gradients

    # plotting
    plt.plot(steps, y_np.flatten(), 'r-')
    plt.plot(steps, prediction.data.numpy().flatten(), 'b-')
    plt.draw(); plt.pause(0.05)

plt.ioff()
plt.show()