Cluster-Aware Multi-Round Update for Wireless Federated Learning in Heterogeneous Environments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a cluster-aware multi-round update strategy for wireless federated learning that improves convergence and model accuracy in heterogeneous environments by optimizing local update frequency and communication resources.

Contribution

It proposes a novel clustering-based approach and a multi-round update strategy that enhances federated learning performance under resource constraints and data heterogeneity.

Findings

Improved model accuracy in heterogeneous environments.

Enhanced convergence efficiency through optimized update frequency.

Better balance between communication cost and computational load.

Abstract

The aggregation efficiency and accuracy of wireless Federated Learning (FL) are significantly affected by resource constraints, especially in heterogeneous environments where devices exhibit distinct data distributions and communication capabilities. This paper proposes a clustering strategy that leverages prior knowledge similarity to group devices with similar data and communication characteristics, mitigating performance degradation from heterogeneity. On this basis, a novel Cluster- Aware Multi-round Update (CAMU) strategy is proposed, which treats clusters as the basic units and adjusts the local update frequency based on the clustered contribution threshold, effectively reducing update bias and enhancing aggregation accuracy. The theoretical convergence of the CAMU strategy is rigorously validated. Meanwhile, based on the convergence upper bound, the local update frequency and transmission power of each cluster are jointly optimized to achieve an optimal balance between computation and communication resources under constrained conditions, significantly improving the convergence efficiency of FL. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively improves the model performance of FL in heterogeneous environments and achieves a better balance between communication cost and computational load under limited resources.