Data Sampling Affects the Complexity of Online SGD over Dependent Data
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Abstract (arXiv)
Conventional machine learning applications typically assume that data samples are independently and identically distributed (i.i.d.). However, practical scenarios often involve a data-generating process that produces highly dependent data samples, which are known to heavily bias the stochastic optimization process and slow down the convergence of learning. In this paper, we conduct a fundamental study on how different stochastic data sampling schemes affect the sample complexity of online stochastic gradient descent (SGD) over highly dependent data. Specifically, with a φ-mixing model of data dependence, we show that online SGD with proper periodic data-subsampling achieves an improved sample complexity over the standard online SGD in the full spectrum of the data dependence level. Interestingly, even subsampling a subset of data samples can accelerate the convergence of online SGD over highly dependent data. Moreover, we show that online SGD with mini-batch sampling can further substantially improve the sample complexity over online SGD with periodic data-subsampling over highly dependent data. Numerical experiments validate our theoretical results.
Key facts. Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 15 of its 42 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 31 Mar 2022.
Builds on
15 of 42 references.
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3 more
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Citing papers per year: 2022: 1; 2023: 3; 2024: 0; 2025: 1.
5 papers.
- 2023Streaming PCA for Markovian Datacited by 9
- 2023Statistical Inference with Stochastic Gradient Methods under φ-mixing Datacited by 7
- 2023Online covariance estimation for stochastic gradient descent under Markovian samplingcited by 7
- 2022Learning from time-dependent streaming data with online stochastic algorithmscited by 2
- 2025On the Optimal Construction of Unbiased Gradient Estimators for Zeroth-Order Optimizationcited by 2
- 2025On the Optimal Construction of Unbiased Gradient Estimators for Zeroth-Order Optimization22 Oct 2025
- 2023Online covariance estimation for stochastic gradient descent under Markovian sampling3 Aug 2023
- 2023Streaming PCA for Markovian Data3 May 2023
- 2023Statistical Inference with Stochastic Gradient Methods under φ-mixing Data24 Feb 2023
- 2022Learning from time-dependent streaming data with online stochastic algorithms25 May 2022