# DACFL: Dynamic Average Consensus Based Federated Learning in Decentralized Topology

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.05505 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.05505/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 29 of its 82 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Nov 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 29 of 29)

- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [Fashion-MNIST: a Novel Image Dataset for Benchmarking Machine Learning Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.07747/) (2017)
- [Delving Deep into Rectifiers: Surpassing Human-Level Performance on ImageNet Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.01852/) (2015)
- [Federated Optimization in Heterogeneous Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.06127/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning: Strategies for Improving Communication Efficiency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.05492/) (2016)
- [Federated Learning with Matched Averaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.06440/) (2020)
- [Can Decentralized Algorithms Outperform Centralized Algorithms? A Case Study for Decentralized Parallel Stochastic Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.09056/) (2017)
- [Towards Personalized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00710/) (2021)
- [Federated Machine Learning: Concept and Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.04885/) (2019)
- [FedPAQ: A Communication-Efficient Federated Learning Method with Periodic Averaging and Quantization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.13014/) (2019)
- [Client-Edge-Cloud Hierarchical Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.06641/) (2019)
- [Private federated learning on vertically partitioned data via entity resolution and additively homomorphic encryption](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.10677/) (2017)
- [On the Convergence of Local Descent Methods in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.14425/) (2019)
- [BrainTorrent: A Peer-to-Peer Environment for Decentralized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.06731/) (2019)
- [Cooperative SGD: A unified Framework for the Design and Analysis of Communication-Efficient SGD Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.07576/) (2018)
- [A Blockchain-based Decentralized Federated Learning Framework with Committee Consensus](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00773/) (2020)
- [Turbo-Aggregate: Breaking the Quadratic Aggregation Barrier in Secure Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.04156/) (2020)
- [Federated Learning Meets Blockchain in Edge Computing: Opportunities and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.01776/) (2021)
- [Decentralized Federated Learning: A Segmented Gossip Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.07782/) (2019)
- [Collaborative Deep Learning in Fixed Topology Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.07880/) (2017)
- [Blockchain Assisted Decentralized Federated Learning (BLADE-FL): Performance Analysis and Resource Allocation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.06905/) (2021)
- [Decentralized Federated Learning via Mutual Knowledge Transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.13063/) (2020)
- [Federated Transfer Learning: concept and applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.15561/) (2020)
- [IPLS : A Framework for Decentralized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.01901/) (2021)
- [Entity Resolution and Federated Learning get a Federated Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.04035/) (2018)
- [GossipGraD: Scalable Deep Learning using Gossip Communication based Asynchronous Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.05880/) (2018)
- [AsySQN: Faster Vertical Federated Learning Algorithms with Better Computation Resource Utilization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.12519/) (2021)
- [Semi-Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.12795/) (2020)
- [Blockchain for 5G and Beyond Networks: A State of the Art Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.05062/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Decentralized Federated Learning: Fundamentals, State of the Art, Frameworks, Trends, and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.08413/) (2022)
- [Introducing Federated Learning into Internet of Things ecosystems -- preliminary considerations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.07700/) (2022)
- [PROSE: A Theory of Optimal Stopping with Perishable Evidence for Peer Selection in Intermittently Connected Decentralised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.23845/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Federated learning (FL) is a burgeoning distributed machine learning framework where a central parameter server (PS) coordinates many local users to train a globally consistent model. Conventional federated learning inevitably relies on a centralized topology with a PS. As a result, it will paralyze once the PS fails. To alleviate such a single point failure, especially on the PS, some existing work has provided decentralized FL (DFL) implementations like CDSGD and D-PSGD to facilitate FL in a decentralized topology. However, there are still some problems with these methods, e.g., significant divergence between users' final models in CDSGD and a network-wide model average necessity in D-PSGD. In order to solve these deficiency, this paper devises a new DFL implementation coined as DACFL, where each user trains its model using its own training data and exchanges the intermediate models with its neighbors through a symmetric and doubly stochastic matrix. The DACFL treats the progress of each user's local training as a discrete-time process and employs a first order dynamic average consensus (FODAC) method to track the textitaverage model in the absence of the PS. In this paper, we also provide a theoretical convergence analysis of DACFL on the premise of i.i.d data to strengthen its rationality. The experimental results on MNIST, Fashion-MNIST and CIFAR-10 validate the feasibility of our solution in both time-invariant and time-varying network topologies, and declare that DACFL outperforms D-PSGD and CDSGD in most cases.