ModRWKV: Transformer Multimodality in Linear Time (2505.14505v1)

Abstract: Currently, most multimodal studies are based on LLMs with quadratic-complexity Transformer architectures. While linear models like RNNs enjoy low inference costs, their application has been largely limited to the text-only modality. This work explores the capabilities of modern RNN architectures in multimodal contexts. We propose ModRWKV-a decoupled multimodal framework built upon the RWKV7 architecture as its LLM backbone-which achieves multi-source information fusion through dynamically adaptable heterogeneous modality encoders. We designed the multimodal modules in ModRWKV with an extremely lightweight architecture and, through extensive experiments, identified a configuration that achieves an optimal balance between performance and computational efficiency. ModRWKV leverages the pretrained weights of the RWKV7 LLM for initialization, which significantly accelerates multimodal training. Comparative experiments with different pretrained checkpoints further demonstrate that such initialization plays a crucial role in enhancing the model's ability to understand multimodal signals. Supported by extensive experiments, we conclude that modern RNN architectures present a viable alternative to Transformers in the domain of multimodal LLMs (MLLMs). Furthermore, we identify the optimal configuration of the ModRWKV architecture through systematic exploration.

ModRWKV: Transformer Multimodality in Linear Time

The paper, "ModRWKV: Transformer Multimodality in Linear Time," presents an innovative approach to multimodal learning by utilizing recurrent neural networks (RNNs) rather than conventional transformer architectures, which are commonly associated with quadratic complexity. The authors introduce ModRWKV, a framework leveraging the RWKV7 architecture for multimodal contexts, incorporating dynamically adaptable and heterogeneous modality encoders to achieve information fusion across various sources.

Insights on Linear Complexity Models

RNN-based architectures, known for their constant memory usage and reduced inference costs compared to traditional transformers, are explored within the multimodal domain. Although RNNs have been predominantly employed in text-only modalities, recent parallel training capabilities and hardware-aware designs optimized for GPU architectures enable their application in broader contexts. With RWKV7 serving as the foundational LLM backbone, this research posits RNNs as a viable alternative to transformers for MLLMs, especially given their inherent sequential processing capabilities and the ability to capture both intra-modal and inter-modal dependencies.

ModRWKV Framework and Contributions

ModRWKV introduces a plug-and-play design for modality-specific encoders and employs a shared parameter base that supports multimodal tasks. Its architecture allows seamless transfer across modalities, facilitated by a lightweight encoder switching mechanism. The paper's contributions are articulated in three primary areas:

1. Framework Development: ModRWKV is pioneering in merging RNN architecture with multimodal frameworks, enabling enhanced scalability and integration efficiency.
2. Evaluation: It systematically assesses full-modality understanding capabilities to set a benchmark for RNN-based multimodal learning performance.
3. Design Validation: Comprehensive ablation experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed multimodal processing design, ensuring a balance between computational efficiency and overall performance.

Empirical Results and Benchmarking

Extensive empirical evaluations suggest that ModRWKV delivers competitive results across various benchmarks, from visual question answering to time-series forecasting, which positions it as a formidable alternative against existing multimodal models. Harnessing pretrained RWKV7 weights for initialization enhances its ability to understand multimodal signals and accelerates training processes, with results indicating its proficiency in handling diverse data types, such as images, audio, and textual information.

Implications for Future Research

The research suggests several implications for the field of AI. Practically, ModRWKV could redefine efficiency benchmarks for multimodal systems, particularly in real-time applications where computational resources are constrained. Theoretically, the insights gathered from employing RNNs over transformers may usher new research pathways emphasizing minimal architectural complexity and maximum resource utilization efficiency. Future developments might focus on extending this framework to more complex multimodal fusion scenarios, such as integrating three or more data modalities simultaneously, and refining encoder architectures for more sophisticated multimodal processing competencies.

In summary, "ModRWKV: Transformer Multimodality in Linear Time" provides a compelling argument for RNNs as a feasible structure for multimodal learning. Its lightweight, efficient design demonstrates significant promise in advancing multimodal understanding within the AI research community.