Distributed Computations with Layered Resolution

TL;DR

This paper introduces layered-resolution distributed coded computations, enabling early approximate results in time-sensitive applications, thereby improving deadline adherence and resource efficiency in distributed systems.

Contribution

It proposes a novel layered-resolution approach that provides early approximate results, enhancing deadline-based performance in distributed coded computing.

Findings

Early resolutions have significantly lower execution delay.

Probability of meeting deadlines is one for early resolutions.

Layered approach improves resource utilization and system success rate.

Abstract

Modern computationally-heavy applications are often time-sensitive, demanding distributed strategies to accelerate them. On the other hand, distributed computing suffers from the bottleneck of slow workers in practice. Distributed coded computing is an attractive solution that adds redundancy such that a subset of distributed computations suffices to obtain the final result. However, the final result is still either obtained within a desired time or not, and for the latter, the resources that are spent are wasted. In this paper, we introduce the novel concept of layered-resolution distributed coded computations such that lower resolutions of the final result are obtained from collective results of the workers -- at an earlier stage than the final result. This innovation makes it possible to have more effective deadline-based systems, since even if a computational job is terminated because of timing, an approximated version of the final result can be released. Based on our theoretical and empirical results, the average execution delay for the first resolution is notably smaller than the one for the final resolution. Moreover, the probability of meeting a deadline is one for the first resolution in a setting where the final resolution exceeds the deadline almost all the time, reducing the success rate of the systems with no layering.