From c7b18bc926e296d2c54087f86aacab66667e6230 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: CalamitousFelicitousness <iowasovereign@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2026 01:22:25 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] feat(attention): static pattern control and fallback

SD_SPARSE_PATTERN=radial swaps the content aware selection for a band
around the diagonal at the density the selector would have produced. It
is the control the selector has to beat, and the fallback the kill
criteria name if it does not.

The band honors the same layout pins. Without them it never keeps the
text columns, which sit far from the diagonal for late video rows, so
prompt conditioning is lost and it renders a different scene entirely:
a control that loses for the wrong reason proves nothing.
---
 modules/attention/sparse/stage.py | 33 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/modules/attention/sparse/stage.py b/modules/attention/sparse/stage.py
index 17922722f..98eb85cea 100644
--- a/modules/attention/sparse/stage.py
+++ b/modules/attention/sparse/stage.py
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 """The router stage that turns settings plus a published layout into a per call block selection."""
+import os
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+import torch
 from modules.logger import log
 from modules.attention import context
 from modules.attention.sparse import layout as layout_mod
-from modules.attention.sparse.selector import SparseSpec, block_count, schedule, select_blocks
+from modules.attention.sparse.selector import BlockSelection, SparseSpec, block_count, radial_blocks, schedule, select_blocks
+
+# SD_SPARSE_PATTERN=radial replaces the content aware selection with a static band around the
+# diagonal at the same density: the control the selector has to beat, and the fallback if it does not
+pattern = os.environ.get('SD_SPARSE_PATTERN', 'adaptive').strip().lower()
 
 
 # measured on a 3090: below roughly this length a 30 percent budget caps under 1.25x per block,
@@ -60,6 +66,29 @@ def make_stage(options: StageOptions):
     reported: set = set()
     inactive: set = set()
     cache: dict = {}
+    static: dict = {}
+
+    def static_selection(query, key, spec, pins, drops, cache_key):
+        """A density matched band, built once per geometry, honoring the same layout pins so the control differs from the selector only in how it chooses video tiles."""
+        static_key = (cache_key, spec.budget, query.shape[-2], key.shape[-2])
+        built = static.get(static_key)
+        if built is None:
+            reference = select_blocks(query, key, spec, pins=pins, drops=drops, cache_key=cache_key)
+            if reference is None:
+                return None
+            target = reference.density()
+            pinned = float(pins.to(torch.float32).mean().item()) if pins is not None else 0.0
+            band = radial_blocks(query.shape[-2], key.shape[-2], max(target - pinned, 0.0), spec, query.device)
+            keep = band.keep.bool()
+            if pins is not None:
+                keep = keep | pins
+            if drops is not None:
+                keep = keep & ~drops
+            built = BlockSelection(keep=keep.to(torch.int8), block_q=spec.block_q, block_kv=spec.block_kv, budget=spec.budget, seq_q=query.shape[-2], seq_kv=key.shape[-2])
+            static.clear()
+            static[static_key] = built
+            log.info(f'Sparse attention: static radial pattern density={built.density():.3f} against selector {target:.3f} at budget={spec.budget:.0%}')
+        return built
 
     def budget_for_step() -> float:
         state = context.current
@@ -103,6 +132,8 @@ def make_stage(options: StageOptions):
         if pins.shape[-2:] != (nq, nk):
             return decline('layout geometry mismatch')
         stage.last_skip = None
+        if pattern == 'radial':
+            return static_selection(query, key, spec, pins, drops, token_layout.key())
         return select_blocks(query, key, spec, pins=pins, drops=drops, cache_key=token_layout.key())
 
     stage.options = options