returnn 1.20240829.92949__tar.gz → 1.20240829.152629__tar.gz

{returnn-1.20240829.92949 → returnn-1.20240829.152629}/PKG-INFO

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Metadata-Version: 2.1
 Name: returnn
-Version: 1.20240829.92949
+Version: 1.20240829.152629
 Summary: The RWTH extensible training framework for universal recurrent neural networks
 Home-page: https://github.com/rwth-i6/returnn/
 Author: Albert Zeyer

returnn-1.20240829.152629/_setup_info_generated.py

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+version = '1.20240829.152629'
+long_version = '1.20240829.152629+git.792772a'

returnn-1.20240829.152629/returnn/frontend/conversions/espnet_e_branchformer.py

@@ -0,0 +1,206 @@
+"""
+Import ESPnet E-Branchformer model parameters
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Union
+import returnn.frontend as rf
+from returnn.frontend.encoder.e_branchformer import EBranchformerLayer, FeedForwardConvGated
+from returnn.frontend.decoder.transformer import FeedForward
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import torch
+    from espnet2.asr.encoder.e_branchformer_encoder import EBranchformerEncoderLayer, ConvolutionalGatingMLP
+    from espnet.nets.pytorch_backend.transformer.positionwise_feed_forward import (
+        PositionwiseFeedForward,
+    )
+    from espnet.nets.pytorch_backend.transformer.attention import (
+        MultiHeadedAttention,
+        RelPositionMultiHeadedAttention,
+    )
+
+
+def import_params_espnet_e_branchformer_layer_to_rf(
+    model_espnet: EBranchformerEncoderLayer, model_rf: EBranchformerLayer
+):
+    """
+    Import params from ESPnet E-Branchformer layer to
+    RF :class:`returnn.frontend.encoder.e_branchformer.EBranchformerLayer`.
+    """
+    from .torch_nn import (
+        import_params_torch_conv1d_to_rf,
+        import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf,
+        import_params_torch_linear_to_rf,
+    )
+    from espnet2.asr.encoder.e_branchformer_encoder import EBranchformerEncoderLayer
+    from espnet.nets.pytorch_backend.transformer.positionwise_feed_forward import (
+        PositionwiseFeedForward,
+    )
+
+    assert isinstance(model_espnet, EBranchformerEncoderLayer)
+    assert isinstance(model_rf, EBranchformerLayer)
+
+    assert isinstance(model_espnet.feed_forward, PositionwiseFeedForward)
+    assert isinstance(model_espnet.feed_forward_macaron, PositionwiseFeedForward)
+
+    import_params_espnet_positionwise_feed_forward_to_rf(model_espnet.feed_forward_macaron, model_rf.ffn1)
+    import_params_espnet_positionwise_feed_forward_to_rf(model_espnet.feed_forward, model_rf.ffn2)
+
+    import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_espnet.norm_ff_macaron, model_rf.ffn1_layer_norm)
+    import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_espnet.norm_ff, model_rf.ffn2_layer_norm)
+    import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_espnet.norm_mha, model_rf.self_att_layer_norm)
+    import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_espnet.norm_mlp, model_rf.cgmlp_layer_norm)
+    import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_espnet.norm_final, model_rf.final_layer_norm)
+
+    # noinspection PyTypeChecker
+    import_params_espnet_multi_headed_attention_to_rf(model_espnet.attn, model_rf.self_att)
+
+    # noinspection PyTypeChecker
+    import_params_espnet_convolutional_gating_mlp_to_rf(model_espnet.cgmlp, model_rf.cgmlp)
+
+    import_params_torch_conv1d_to_rf(model_espnet.depthwise_conv_fusion, model_rf.merge.depthwise_conv_fusion)
+    import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.merge_proj, model_rf.merge.merge_proj)
+
+    num_params_espnet = 0
+    for k, v in model_espnet.named_parameters():
+        num_params_espnet += v.numel()
+    num_params_rf = 0
+    for k, v in model_rf.named_parameters():
+        num_params_rf += v.num_elements()
+    assert num_params_rf == num_params_espnet, f"num params RF {num_params_rf} != params ESPnet {num_params_espnet}"
+
+
+def import_params_espnet_positionwise_feed_forward_to_rf(model_espnet: PositionwiseFeedForward, model_rf: FeedForward):
+    """import"""
+    from .torch_nn import import_params_torch_linear_to_rf
+
+    assert model_rf.linear_ff.with_bias and model_rf.linear_out.with_bias
+    import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.w_1, model_rf.linear_ff)
+    import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.w_2, model_rf.linear_out)
+
+
+def import_params_espnet_multi_headed_attention_to_rf(
+    model_espnet: Union[MultiHeadedAttention, RelPositionMultiHeadedAttention],
+    model_rf: Union[rf.SelfAttention, rf.RelPosSelfAttention],
+):
+    """import"""
+    import torch
+    from .torch_nn import import_params_torch_linear_to_rf
+    from espnet.nets.pytorch_backend.transformer.attention import (
+        MultiHeadedAttention,
+        RelPositionMultiHeadedAttention,
+    )
+
+    assert isinstance(model_espnet, (MultiHeadedAttention, RelPositionMultiHeadedAttention))
+    assert isinstance(model_rf, (rf.SelfAttention, rf.RelPosSelfAttention))
+    assert model_espnet.h == model_rf.num_heads.dimension
+    assert model_espnet.d_k == model_rf.key_dim_per_head.dimension
+    dim = model_espnet.d_k * model_espnet.h
+    nh = model_espnet.h
+    hdim = dim // nh
+
+    with torch.no_grad():
+        # Torch Linear: (out,in), but RF has (in,out).
+        q = model_espnet.linear_q.weight.T.reshape(dim, nh, hdim)  # (in,h,out/h)
+        k = model_espnet.linear_k.weight.T.reshape(dim, nh, hdim)  # (in,h,out/h)
+        v = model_espnet.linear_v.weight.T.reshape(dim, nh, hdim)  # (in,h,out/h)
+        q_bias = model_espnet.linear_q.bias.reshape(nh, hdim)  # (h,out/h)
+        k_bias = model_espnet.linear_k.bias.reshape(nh, hdim)  # (h,out/h)
+        v_bias = model_espnet.linear_v.bias.reshape(nh, hdim)  # (h,out/h)
+        qkv = torch.cat([q, k, v], dim=2)  # (in,h,out/h*3)
+        qkv = qkv.reshape(dim, 3 * dim)  # (in,out*3)
+        qkv_bias = torch.cat([q_bias, k_bias, v_bias], dim=1).reshape(dim * 3)  # (out*3,)
+        model_rf.qkv.weight.raw_tensor.copy_(qkv)
+        model_rf.qkv.bias.raw_tensor.copy_(qkv_bias)
+
+        import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.linear_out, model_rf.proj)
+
+        if isinstance(model_espnet, RelPositionMultiHeadedAttention):
+            assert isinstance(model_rf, rf.RelPosSelfAttention)
+            assert model_rf.linear_pos is not None
+            assert model_rf.pos_bias_u is not None and model_rf.pos_bias_v is not None
+
+            import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.linear_pos, model_rf.linear_pos)
+            _reorder_rel_pos_emb_espnet_to_rf_(model_rf.linear_pos.weight.raw_tensor, dim=0)
+            model_rf.pos_bias_u.raw_tensor.copy_(model_espnet.pos_bias_u)
+            model_rf.pos_bias_v.raw_tensor.copy_(model_espnet.pos_bias_v)
+        else:
+            assert not isinstance(model_rf, rf.RelPosSelfAttention)
+
+    num_params_espnet = 0
+    for k, v in model_espnet.named_parameters():
+        num_params_espnet += v.numel()
+    num_params_rf = 0
+    for k, v in model_rf.named_parameters():
+        num_params_rf += v.num_elements()
+    assert num_params_rf == num_params_espnet, f"num params RF {num_params_rf} != params ESPnet {num_params_espnet}"
+
+
+def _reorder_rel_pos_emb_espnet_to_rf(x: torch.Tensor, *, dim=-1) -> torch.Tensor:
+    if dim < 0:
+        dim += x.ndim
+    assert 0 <= dim < x.ndim
+    if dim != x.ndim - 1:
+        x = x.transpose(dim, -1)
+    # x: [..., D]
+    # x feat dims is sin/cos repeated after each other
+    *o, d = x.shape
+    x = x.reshape(*o, d // 2, 2)  # [..., D/2, 2]
+    # PT goes over indices T-1,T-2,...,0,1,2,...,T-1.
+    # RF goes the other way around.
+    # We don't flip here, to show that a linear transformation of the features is also fine.
+    # Flipping cos has no effect.
+    # Flipping sin would be equivalent to negating the positional encoding.
+    x[..., 0] = -x[..., 0]
+    # RF has first the sin, then the cos.
+    x = x.transpose(-1, -2).reshape(*o, d)  # [..., D]
+    if dim != x.ndim - 1:  # transpose back
+        x = x.transpose(dim, -1)
+    return x
+
+
+def _reorder_rel_pos_emb_espnet_to_rf_(x: torch.Tensor, *, dim=-1):
+    import torch
+
+    with torch.no_grad():
+        x.copy_(_reorder_rel_pos_emb_espnet_to_rf(x, dim=dim))
+
+
+def import_params_espnet_convolutional_gating_mlp_to_rf(
+    model_espnet: ConvolutionalGatingMLP, model_rf: FeedForwardConvGated
+):
+    """import"""
+    from .torch_nn import (
+        import_params_torch_linear_to_rf,
+        import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf,
+        import_params_torch_conv1d_to_rf,
+    )
+    from espnet2.asr.encoder.e_branchformer_encoder import ConvolutionalGatingMLP
+
+    assert isinstance(model_espnet, ConvolutionalGatingMLP)
+    assert isinstance(model_rf, FeedForwardConvGated)
+
+    import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.channel_proj1[0], model_rf.linear_ff)
+    _reorder_espnet_cgmlp_linear_ff_to_rf_(model_rf.linear_ff.weight.raw_tensor)
+    if model_rf.linear_ff.with_bias:
+        _reorder_espnet_cgmlp_linear_ff_to_rf_(model_rf.linear_ff.bias.raw_tensor)
+    import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_espnet.channel_proj2, model_rf.linear_out)
+    import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_espnet.csgu.norm, model_rf.norm)
+    import_params_torch_conv1d_to_rf(model_espnet.csgu.conv, model_rf.conv)
+    assert model_espnet.csgu.linear is None
+
+    num_params_espnet = 0
+    for k, v in model_espnet.named_parameters():
+        num_params_espnet += v.numel()
+    num_params_rf = 0
+    for k, v in model_rf.named_parameters():
+        num_params_rf += v.num_elements()
+    assert num_params_rf == num_params_espnet, f"num params RF {num_params_rf} != params ESPnet {num_params_espnet}"
+
+
+def _reorder_espnet_cgmlp_linear_ff_to_rf_(w: torch.Tensor):
+    import torch
+
+    dims = list(w.shape)
+    with torch.no_grad():
+        w.copy_(w.reshape(*dims[:-1], 2, dims[-1] // 2).flip(-2).reshape(*dims))

returnn-1.20240829.152629/returnn/frontend/conversions/torch_nn.py

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+"""
+Import some of the torch.nn modules.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+import returnn.frontend as rf
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import torch
+
+
+def import_params_torch_linear_to_rf(model_pt: torch.nn.Linear, model_rf: rf.Linear):
+    """
+    import params from torch.nn.Linear to rf.Linear
+    """
+    import torch
+
+    assert isinstance(model_pt, torch.nn.Linear)
+    assert isinstance(model_rf, rf.Linear)
+    assert model_rf.with_bias == (model_pt.bias is not None)
+
+    with torch.no_grad():
+        model_rf.weight.raw_tensor.copy_(model_pt.weight.T)  # (in,out)
+        if model_rf.with_bias:
+            model_rf.bias.raw_tensor.copy_(model_pt.bias)  # (out,)
+
+
+def import_params_torch_conv1d_to_rf(model_pt: torch.nn.Conv1d, model_rf: rf.Conv1d):
+    """
+    import params from torch.nn.Conv1d to rf.Conv1d
+    """
+    import torch
+
+    assert isinstance(model_pt, torch.nn.Conv1d)
+    assert isinstance(model_rf, rf.Conv1d)
+    assert model_rf.with_bias == (model_pt.bias is not None)
+
+    with torch.no_grad():
+        # Torch shape: out_channels, in_channels // groups, *kernel_size
+        # RF shape: self.out_dim, self.filter_in_dim, *self.filter_size, i.e. should be same
+        model_rf.filter.raw_tensor.copy_(model_pt.weight)
+        if model_rf.with_bias:
+            model_rf.bias.raw_tensor.copy_(model_pt.bias)
+
+
+def import_params_torch_layer_norm_to_rf(model_pt: torch.nn.LayerNorm, model_rf: rf.LayerNorm):
+    """
+    Import the parameters from torch.nn.LayerNorm to rf.LayerNorm.
+    """
+    import torch
+
+    assert isinstance(model_pt, torch.nn.LayerNorm)
+    assert isinstance(model_rf, rf.LayerNorm)
+    assert model_pt.weight.shape[0] == model_rf.in_dim.dimension
+
+    with torch.no_grad():
+        model_rf.scale.raw_tensor.copy_(model_pt.weight)  # (in,)
+        model_rf.bias.raw_tensor.copy_(model_pt.bias)  # (in,)
+
+    num_params_pt = 0
+    for k, v in model_pt.named_parameters():
+        num_params_pt += v.numel()
+    num_params_rf = 0
+    for k, v in model_rf.named_parameters():
+        assert isinstance(v.raw_tensor, torch.nn.Parameter)
+        num_params_rf += v.num_elements()
+    assert num_params_rf == num_params_pt

{returnn-1.20240829.92949 → returnn-1.20240829.152629}/returnn/frontend/decoder/transformer.py

@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ class TransformerDecoder(rf.Module):
 
         self.layers = sequential(_copy.deepcopy(decoder_layer) for _ in range(num_layers))
 
-        self.final_layer_norm = _make_norm(norm, model_dim)
+        self.final_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, model_dim)
 
         self.logits = rf.Linear(model_dim, vocab_dim, with_bias=logits_with_bias)
 
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ class TransformerDecoderLayer(rf.Module):
         assert isinstance(ff, rf.Module)
 
         self.ff = ff
-        self.ff_layer_norm = _make_norm(norm, out_dim)
+        self.ff_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
         if self_att is None or isinstance(self_att, type) or isinstance(self_att, dict):
             self_att_opts_ = dict(
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ class TransformerDecoderLayer(rf.Module):
             self.self_att = _copy.deepcopy(self_att)
         else:
             raise TypeError(f"unexpected self_att type {self_att!r}")
-        self.self_att_layer_norm = _make_norm(norm, out_dim)
+        self.self_att_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
         self.cross_att = None
         self.cross_att_layer_norm = None
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ class TransformerDecoderLayer(rf.Module):
                 num_heads=num_heads,
                 att_dropout=att_dropout,
             )
-            self.cross_att_layer_norm = _make_norm(norm, out_dim)
+            self.cross_att_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
     def default_initial_state(self, *, batch_dims: Sequence[Dim]) -> rf.State:
         """default initial state"""
@@ -492,7 +492,12 @@ class FeedForwardGated(rf.Module):
         return x_ff2
 
 
-def _make_norm(norm: Union[type, Dict[str, Any], rf.Module, Callable], out_dim: Dim) -> Union[rf.Module, Callable]:
+def make_norm(norm: Union[type, Dict[str, Any], rf.Module, Callable], out_dim: Dim) -> Union[rf.Module, Callable]:
+    """
+    :param norm: norm type or dict or module or callable. e.g. ``rf.LayerNorm``
+    :param out_dim: model/out dim
+    :return: norm module or callable. e.g. ``rf.LayerNorm(out_dim)``
+    """
     if isinstance(norm, type):
         norm = norm(out_dim)
     elif isinstance(norm, dict):

{returnn-1.20240829.92949 → returnn-1.20240829.152629}/returnn/frontend/encoder/conformer.py

@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@ from returnn.tensor import Tensor, Dim
 import returnn.frontend as rf
 from returnn.util.basic import NotSpecified
 from .base import ISeqDownsamplingEncoder
+from ..decoder.transformer import FeedForward, make_norm
 
 
-class ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward(rf.Module):
+class ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward(FeedForward):
     """
     Conformer position-wise feedforward neural network layer
         FF -> Activation -> Dropout -> FF
@@ -25,37 +26,20 @@ class ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward(rf.Module):
         self,
         out_dim: Dim,
         *,
-        ff_dim: Dim,
-        dropout: float,
-        activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module],
+        ff_dim: Union[Dim, int] = NotSpecified,
+        dropout: float = 0.1,
+        activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module] = rf.swish,
+        **kwargs,
     ):
         """
         :param out_dim: output feature dimension
         :param ff_dim: dimension of the feed-forward layers
         :param dropout: dropout value
-        :param activation: activation function
+        :param activation: activation function. swish by default, unlike the base :class:`FeedForward`
         """
-        super().__init__()
-
-        self.out_dim = out_dim
-        self.dropout = dropout
-        self.dropout_broadcast = rf.dropout_broadcast_default()
-        if isinstance(activation, dict):
-            activation = rf.build_from_dict(activation)
-        elif not callable(activation):
-            raise TypeError(f"{self}: unexpected activation type {activation!r}")
-        self.activation = activation
-
-        self.linear_ff = rf.Linear(out_dim, ff_dim)
-        self.linear_out = rf.Linear(ff_dim, out_dim)
-
-    def __call__(self, inp: Tensor) -> Tensor:
-        """forward"""
-        x_ff1 = self.linear_ff(inp)
-        x_act = self.activation(x_ff1)
-        x_drop = rf.dropout(x_act, self.dropout, axis=self.dropout_broadcast and self.linear_ff.out_dim)
-        x_ff2 = self.linear_out(x_drop)
-        return x_ff2
+        if activation is NotSpecified:
+            activation = rf.swish
+        super().__init__(out_dim=out_dim, ff_dim=ff_dim, dropout=dropout, activation=activation, **kwargs)
 
 
 class ConformerConvBlock(rf.Module):
@@ -188,8 +172,9 @@ class ConformerEncoderLayer(rf.Module):
         self,
         out_dim: Dim = Dim(512, name="conformer-enc-default-out-dim"),
         *,
+        ff: Union[type, Dict[str, Any], rf.Module] = NotSpecified,
         ff_dim: Dim = NotSpecified,
-        ff_activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module] = rf.swish,
+        ff_activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module] = NotSpecified,
         dropout: float = 0.1,
         conv_kernel_size: int = 32,
         conv_norm: Union[rf.BatchNorm, type, Dict[str, Any], Any] = NotSpecified,
@@ -198,6 +183,7 @@ class ConformerEncoderLayer(rf.Module):
         self_att: Optional[Union[rf.RelPosSelfAttention, rf.Module, type, Dict[str, Any], Any]] = None,
         self_att_opts: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
         att_dropout: float = 0.1,
+        norm: Union[type, Dict[str, Any], rf.Module, Callable] = rf.LayerNorm,
     ):
         """
         :param out_dim: the output feature dimension
@@ -215,6 +201,7 @@ class ConformerEncoderLayer(rf.Module):
         :param self_att: the self-attention layer. RelPosSelfAttention originally and default
         :param self_att_opts: options for the self-attention layer, for :class:`nn.RelPosSelfAttention`
         :param att_dropout: attention dropout value
+        :param norm: pre-normalization for FF, conv and attention blocks
         """
         super().__init__()
 
@@ -222,17 +209,11 @@ class ConformerEncoderLayer(rf.Module):
         self.dropout_broadcast = rf.dropout_broadcast_default()
         self.out_dim = out_dim
 
-        if ff_dim is None:
-            ff_dim = 4 * out_dim
-        self.ffn1 = ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward(
-            out_dim=out_dim, ff_dim=ff_dim, dropout=dropout, activation=ff_activation
-        )
-        self.ffn1_layer_norm = rf.LayerNorm(out_dim)
+        self.ffn1 = make_ff(ff=ff, out_dim=out_dim, ff_dim=ff_dim, dropout=dropout, ff_activation=ff_activation)
+        self.ffn1_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
-        self.ffn2 = ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward(
-            out_dim=out_dim, ff_dim=ff_dim, dropout=dropout, activation=ff_activation
-        )
-        self.ffn2_layer_norm = rf.LayerNorm(out_dim)
+        self.ffn2 = make_ff(ff=ff, out_dim=out_dim, ff_dim=ff_dim, dropout=dropout, ff_activation=ff_activation)
+        self.ffn2_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
         if conv_norm is NotSpecified or conv_norm is rf.BatchNorm:
             conv_norm_opts = conv_norm_opts.copy() if conv_norm_opts else {}
@@ -245,7 +226,7 @@ class ConformerEncoderLayer(rf.Module):
         if not callable(conv_norm):
             raise TypeError(f"{self}: unexpected conv_norm type {conv_norm!r}")
         self.conv_block = ConformerConvBlock(out_dim=out_dim, kernel_size=conv_kernel_size, norm=conv_norm)
-        self.conv_layer_norm = rf.LayerNorm(out_dim)
+        self.conv_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
         if self_att is None or isinstance(self_att, (dict, type)):
             self_att_opts_ = dict(
@@ -271,9 +252,9 @@ class ConformerEncoderLayer(rf.Module):
             if not callable(self_att):
                 raise TypeError(f"{self}: invalid non-callable: self_att {self_att!r}")
             self.self_att = self_att
-        self.self_att_layer_norm = rf.LayerNorm(out_dim)
+        self.self_att_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
-        self.final_layer_norm = rf.LayerNorm(out_dim)
+        self.final_layer_norm = make_norm(norm, out_dim)
 
     def __call__(self, inp: Tensor, *, spatial_dim: Dim) -> Tensor:
         """forward"""
@@ -313,12 +294,12 @@ class ConformerEncoder(ISeqDownsamplingEncoder):
         out_dim: Dim = Dim(512, name="conformer-enc-default-out-dim"),
         *,
         num_layers: int,
-        input_layer: Union[ConformerConvSubsample, ISeqDownsamplingEncoder, rf.Module, Any],
+        input_layer: Optional[Union[ConformerConvSubsample, ISeqDownsamplingEncoder, rf.Module, Any]],
         input_dropout: float = 0.1,
         ff_dim: Dim = NotSpecified,
-        ff_activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module] = rf.swish,
+        ff_activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module] = NotSpecified,
         dropout: float = 0.1,
-        conv_kernel_size: int = 32,
+        conv_kernel_size: int = NotSpecified,
         conv_norm: Union[rf.BatchNorm, type, Dict[str, Any], Any] = NotSpecified,
         num_heads: int = 4,
         att_dropout: float = 0.1,
@@ -352,8 +333,10 @@ class ConformerEncoder(ISeqDownsamplingEncoder):
 
         # TODO once we figured out good defaults, we would create ConformerConvSubsample here when not given
         self.input_layer = input_layer
-        self.input_projection = rf.Linear(
-            self.input_layer.out_dim if self.input_layer else self.in_dim, self.out_dim, with_bias=False
+        self.input_projection = (
+            rf.Linear(self.input_layer.out_dim if self.input_layer else self.in_dim, self.out_dim, with_bias=False)
+            if input_layer
+            else None
         )
         self.input_dropout = input_dropout
 
@@ -368,6 +351,7 @@ class ConformerEncoder(ISeqDownsamplingEncoder):
                 num_heads=num_heads,
                 att_dropout=att_dropout,
             )
+            encoder_layer_opts_ = {k: v for (k, v) in encoder_layer_opts_.items() if v is not NotSpecified}
             if encoder_layer_opts:
                 encoder_layer_opts_.update(encoder_layer_opts)
             if not encoder_layer:
@@ -404,7 +388,35 @@ class ConformerEncoder(ISeqDownsamplingEncoder):
             x_subsample, out_spatial_dim = self.input_layer(source, in_spatial_dim=in_spatial_dim)
         else:
             x_subsample, out_spatial_dim = source, in_spatial_dim
-        x_linear = self.input_projection(x_subsample)
-        x = rf.dropout(x_linear, self.input_dropout, axis=self.dropout_broadcast and self.input_projection.out_dim)
+        x = self.input_projection(x_subsample) if self.input_projection else x_subsample
+        x = rf.dropout(x, self.input_dropout, axis=self.dropout_broadcast and self.out_dim)
         x = self.layers(x, spatial_dim=out_spatial_dim, collected_outputs=collected_outputs)
         return x, out_spatial_dim
+
+
+def make_ff(
+    *,
+    out_dim: Dim,
+    ff: Union[type, Dict[str, Any], rf.Module],
+    ff_dim: Union[Dim, int],
+    ff_activation: Union[Callable[[Tensor], Tensor], Dict[str, Any], rf.Module],
+    dropout: float,
+) -> Union[ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward, rf.Module]:
+    """
+    make the feed-forward part of the Conformer layer
+    """
+    if ff is NotSpecified:
+        ff = ConformerPositionwiseFeedForward
+    if isinstance(ff, rf.Module):
+        ff = _copy.deepcopy(ff)
+    else:
+        ff_kwargs = dict(out_dim=out_dim, ff_dim=ff_dim, dropout=dropout, activation=ff_activation)
+        ff_kwargs = {k: v for (k, v) in ff_kwargs.items() if v is not NotSpecified}
+        if isinstance(ff, type):
+            ff = ff(**ff_kwargs)
+        elif isinstance(ff, dict):
+            ff = rf.build_from_dict(ff, **ff_kwargs)
+        else:
+            raise TypeError(f"unexpected ff type {ff!r}")
+    assert isinstance(ff, rf.Module)
+    return ff