# Accelerating Federated Learning over Reliability-Agnostic Clients in Mobile Edge Computing Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.14374 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.14374/

## Key facts

- Cited by 17 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 28 Jul 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [Heterogeneous Federated Learning: State-of-the-art and Research Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10616/) (2023)
- [Accelerated Federated Learning with Decoupled Adaptive Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.07223/) (2022)
- [FedCross: Towards Accurate Federated Learning via Multi-Model Cross-Aggregation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.08285/) (2022)
- [Pervasive AI for IoT applications: A Survey on Resource-efficient Distributed Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.01798/) (2021)
- [HiFlash: Communication-Efficient Hierarchical Federated Learning with Adaptive Staleness Control and Heterogeneity-aware Client-Edge Association](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.06447/) (2023)
- [Communication-Efficient Hierarchical Federated Learning for IoT Heterogeneous Systems with Imbalanced Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.06548/) (2021)
- [Adaptive Federated Pruning in Hierarchical Wireless Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.09042/) (2023)
- [Towards Efficient Synchronous Federated Training: A Survey on System Optimization Strategies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.03999/) (2021)
- [Asynchronous Decentralized Federated Learning for Collaborative Fault Diagnosis of PV Stations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.13606/) (2022)
- [From Deterioration to Acceleration: A Calibration Approach to Rehabilitating Step Asynchronism in Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.09355/) (2021)
- [On the Impact of Device and Behavioral Heterogeneity in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.07500/) (2021)
- [Age-Based Device Selection and Transmit Power Optimization in Over-the-Air Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.01828/) (2025)
- [Take Your Pick: Enabling Effective Personalized Federated Learning within Low-dimensional Feature Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.13995/) (2023)
- [Federated Learning in IoT: a Survey from a Resource-Constrained Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.13157/) (2023)
- [Towards Reliable Participation in UAV-Enabled Federated Edge Learning on Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10411/) (2023)
- [FedProf: Selective Federated Learning with Representation Profiling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.01733/) (2021)
- [Towards Seamless Hierarchical Federated Learning under Intermittent Client Participation: A Stagewise Decision-Making Methodology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.09303/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), which incorporates the Cloud, edge nodes and end devices, has shown great potential in bringing data processing closer to the data sources. Meanwhile, Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a promising privacy-preserving approach to facilitating AI applications. However, it remains a big challenge to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of FL when it is integrated with the MEC architecture. Moreover, the unreliable nature (e.g., stragglers and intermittent drop-out) of end devices significantly slows down the FL process and affects the global model's quality Xin such circumstances. In this paper, a multi-layer federated learning protocol called HybridFL is designed for the MEC architecture. HybridFL adopts two levels (the edge level and the cloud level) of model aggregation enacting different aggregation strategies. Moreover, in order to mitigate stragglers and end device drop-out, we introduce regional slack factors into the stage of client selection performed at the edge nodes using a probabilistic approach without identifying or probing the state of end devices (whose reliability is agnostic). We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in modulating the proportion of clients selected and present the convergence analysis for our protocol. We have conducted extensive experiments with machine learning tasks in different scales of MEC system. The results show that HybridFL improves the FL training process significantly in terms of shortening the federated round length, speeding up the global model's convergence (by up to 12X) and reducing end device energy consumption (by up to 58%).