# Adaptive Transmission Scheduling in Wireless Networks for Asynchronous Federated Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.01422 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.01422/

## Key facts

- Cited by 15 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 38 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Mar 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Very Deep Convolutional Networks for Large-Scale Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.1556/) (2014)
- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [Federated Optimization in Heterogeneous Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.06127/) (2018)
- [Optimization Methods for Large-Scale Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.04838/) (2016)
- [Federated Multi-Task Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.10467/) (2017)
- [Deep Gradient Compression: Reducing the Communication Bandwidth for Distributed Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.01887/) (2017)
- [Adaptive Federated Learning in Resource Constrained Edge Computing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.05271/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning in Mobile Edge Networks: A Comprehensive Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.11875/) (2019)
- [Asynchronous Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.03934/) (2019)
- [A Joint Learning and Communications Framework for Federated Learning over Wireless Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.07972/) (2019)
- [Federated Learning over Wireless Fading Channels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.09769/) (2019)
- [Scheduling Policies for Federated Learning in Wireless Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.06287/) (2019)
- [Why is Posterior Sampling Better than Optimism for Reinforcement Learning?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.00215/) (2016)
- [Client Selection and Bandwidth Allocation in Wireless Federated Learning Networks: A Long-Term Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.04314/) (2020)
- [Communication-Efficient Federated Deep Learning with Asynchronous Model Update and Temporally Weighted Aggregation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.07424/) (2019)
- [Asynchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent with Delay Compensation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.08326/) (2016)
- [LAG: Lazily Aggregated Gradient for Communication-Efficient Distributed Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.09965/) (2018)
- [Joint Device Scheduling and Resource Allocation for Latency Constrained Wireless Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.07174/) (2020)
- [Convergence of Update Aware Device Scheduling for Federated Learning at the Wireless Edge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.10402/) (2020)
- [Learning Unknown Markov Decision Processes: A Thompson Sampling Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.04570/) (2017)
- [Ternary Compression for Communication-Efficient Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.03564/) (2020)
- [Multi-Armed Bandit Based Client Scheduling for Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.02315/) (2020)
- [Asynchronous Multi-Task Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.09563/) (2016)
- [SDF-Bayes: Cautious Optimism in Safe Dose-Finding Clinical Trials with Drug Combinations and Heterogeneous Patient Groups](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10998/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Mobility-Aware Cooperative Caching in Vehicular Edge Computing Based on Asynchronous Federated and Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.01219/) (2022)
- [Scheduling and Aggregation Design for Asynchronous Federated Learning over Wireless Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.07356/) (2022)
- [Async-HFL: Efficient and Robust Asynchronous Federated Learning in Hierarchical IoT Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.06646/) (2023)
- [Time-triggered Federated Learning over Wireless Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.12426/) (2022)
- [Anti-Byzantine Attacks Enabled Vehicle Selection for Asynchronous Federated Learning in Vehicular Edge Computing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.08444/) (2024)
- [Device Scheduling and Update Aggregation Policies for Asynchronous Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.11415/) (2021)
- [Asynchronous Wireless Federated Learning with Probabilistic Client Selection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.16741/) (2023)
- [Stragglers-Aware Low-Latency Synchronous Federated Learning via Layer-Wise Model Updates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.18375/) (2024)
- [Collaborative Policy Learning for Dynamic Scheduling Tasks in Cloud-Edge-Terminal IoT Networks Using Federated Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.00541/) (2023)
- [GAS: Generative Activation-Aided Asynchronous Split Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.01251/) (2024)
- [FedDD: Toward Communication-efficient Federated Learning with Differential Parameter Dropout](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.16835/) (2023)
- [Differentially Private Wireless Federated Learning Using Orthogonal Sequences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.08280/) (2023)
- [Random Orthogonalization for Federated Learning in Massive MIMO Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.09881/) (2022)
- [Over-the-Air Computation Aided Federated Learning with the Aggregation of Normalized Gradient](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.09082/) (2023)
- [Mobility-Aware Asynchronous Federated Learning with Dynamic Sparsification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.07328/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we study asynchronous federated learning (FL) in a wireless distributed learning network (WDLN). To allow each edge device to use its local data more efficiently via asynchronous FL, transmission scheduling in the WDLN for asynchronous FL should be carefully determined considering system uncertainties, such as time-varying channel and stochastic data arrivals, and the scarce radio resources in the WDLN. To address this, we propose a metric, called an effectivity score, which represents the amount of learning from asynchronous FL. We then formulate an Asynchronous Learning-aware transmission Scheduling (ALS) problem to maximize the effectivity score and develop three ALS algorithms, called ALSA-PI, BALSA, and BALSA-PO, to solve it. If the statistical information about the uncertainties is known, the problem can be optimally and efficiently solved by ALSA-PI. Even if not, it can be still optimally solved by BALSA that learns the uncertainties based on a Bayesian approach using the state information reported from devices. BALSA-PO suboptimally solves the problem, but it addresses a more restrictive WDLN in practice, where the AP can observe a limited state information compared with the information used in BALSA. We show via simulations that the models trained by our ALS algorithms achieve performances close to that by an ideal benchmark and outperform those by other state-of-the-art baseline scheduling algorithms in terms of model accuracy, training loss, learning speed, and robustness of learning. These results demonstrate that the adaptive scheduling strategy in our ALS algorithms is effective to asynchronous FL.