# A Unified Analysis of Federated Learning with Arbitrary Client Participation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.13648 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13648/

## Key facts

- Cited by 45 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 33 of its 47 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 May 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 33)

- [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)
- [Advances and Open Problems in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04977/) (2019)
- [Federated Optimization in Heterogeneous Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.06127/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning: Challenges, Methods, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.07873/) (2019)
- [On the Convergence of FedAvg on Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.02189/) (2019)
- [Adaptive Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.00295/) (2020)
- [Towards Federated Learning at Scale: System Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.01046/) (2019)
- [Local SGD Converges Fast and Communicates Little](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.09767/) (2018)
- [Lookahead Optimizer: k steps forward, 1 step back](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.08610/) (2019)
- [Lower Bounds for Non-Convex Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.02365/) (2019)
- [Parallel Restarted SGD with Faster Convergence and Less Communication: Demystifying Why Model Averaging Works for Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.06629/) (2018)
- [SGD: General Analysis and Improved Rates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.09401/) (2019)
- [Don't Use Large Mini-Batches, Use Local SGD](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.07217/) (2018)
- [Achieving Linear Speedup with Partial Worker Participation in Non-IID Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.11203/) (2021)
- [On the Linear Speedup Analysis of Communication Efficient Momentum SGD for Distributed Non-Convex Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.03817/) (2019)
- [Is Local SGD Better than Minibatch SGD?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.07839/) (2020)
- [Minibatch vs Local SGD for Heterogeneous Distributed Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.04735/) (2020)
- [Optimal Client Sampling for Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.13723/) (2020)
- [Random Reshuffling: Simple Analysis with Vast Improvements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.05988/) (2020)
- [Local SGD with Periodic Averaging: Tighter Analysis and Adaptive Synchronization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.13598/) (2019)
- [Clustered Sampling: Low-Variance and Improved Representativity for Clients Selection in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05883/) (2021)
- [Local SGD: Unified Theory and New Efficient Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.02828/) (2020)
- [Why Random Reshuffling Beats Stochastic Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1510.08560/) (2015)
- [Adaptive Communication Strategies to Achieve the Best Error-Runtime Trade-off in Local-Update SGD](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.08313/) (2018)
- [Fast Federated Learning in the Presence of Arbitrary Device Unavailability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.04159/) (2021)
- [Towards Flexible Device Participation in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.06954/) (2020)
- [Anarchic Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.09875/) (2021)
- [Semi-Cyclic Stochastic Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.10120/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 45)

- [On the Convergence of Federated Averaging with Cyclic Client Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.03109/) (2023)
- [DELTA: Diverse Client Sampling for Fasting Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13925/) (2022)
- [Every Parameter Matters: Ensuring the Convergence of Federated Learning with Dynamic Heterogeneous Models Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08670/) (2023)
- [Accelerating Hybrid Federated Learning Convergence under Partial Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.05397/) (2023)
- [Federated Learning with Regularized Client Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.03662/) (2023)
- [MimiC: Combating Client Dropouts in Federated Learning by Mimicking Central Updates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.12212/) (2023)
- [Federated Learning with Instance-Dependent Noisy Label](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10324/) (2023)
- [Efficient Federated Learning against Heterogeneous and Non-stationary Client Unavailability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17446/) (2024)
- [Delay Sensitive Hierarchical Federated Learning with Stochastic Local Updates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.04851/) (2023)
- [Federated Learning under Periodic Client Participation and Heterogeneous Data: A New Communication-Efficient Algorithm and Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.23131/) (2024)
- [Towards Bias Correction of FedAvg over Nonuniform and Time-Varying Communications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.00280/) (2023)
- [Distributed Personalized Empirical Risk Minimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.17761/) (2023)
- [Exact and Linear Convergence for Federated Learning under Arbitrary Client Participation is Attainable](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20117/) (2025)
- [Federated Learning in the Presence of Adversarial Client Unavailability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19971/) (2023)
- [FedStale: leveraging stale client updates in federated learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04171/) (2024)
- [DRACO: Decentralized Asynchronous Federated Learning over Row-Stochastic Wireless Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.13533/) (2024)
- [Federated brain tumor segmentation: an extensive benchmark](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.17265/) (2024)
- [Riemannian Federated Learning via Averaging Gradient Streams](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.07223/) (2024)
- [Empowering Federated Learning with Implicit Gossiping: Mitigating Connection Unreliability Amidst Unknown and Arbitrary Dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.10091/) (2024)
- [Understanding Server-Assisted Federated Learning in the Presence of Incomplete Client Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.02745/) (2024)
- [SCALA: Split Federated Learning with Concatenated Activations and Logit Adjustments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04875/) (2024)
- [Distributed Online Optimization with Stochastic Agent Availability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.16477/) (2024)
- [Asynchronous Federated Learning: A Scalable Approach for Decentralized Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.17723/) (2024)
- [Bant: Byzantine Antidote via Trial Function and Trust Scores](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.07614/) (2025)
- [Delayed Momentum Aggregation: Communication-efficient Byzantine-robust Federated Learning with Partial Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.02970/) (2025)
- [Robust Collaborative Inference with Vertically Split Data Over Dynamic Device Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.16638/) (2023)
- [How to Collaborate: Towards Maximizing the Generalization Performance in Cross-Silo Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.13236/) (2024)
- [Privacy Preserving Semi-Decentralized Mean Estimation over Intermittently-Connected Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.03766/) (2024)
- [Does Worst-Performing Agent Lead the Pack? Analyzing Agent Dynamics in Unified Distributed SGD](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17499/) (2024)
- [ProFL: Performative Robust Optimal Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.18075/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Federated learning (FL) faces challenges of intermittent client availability and computation/communication efficiency. As a result, only a small subset of clients can participate in FL at a given time. It is important to understand how partial client participation affects convergence, but most existing works have either considered idealized participation patterns or obtained results with non-zero optimality error for generic patterns. In this paper, we provide a unified convergence analysis for FL with arbitrary client participation. We first introduce a generalized version of federated averaging (FedAvg) that amplifies parameter updates at an interval of multiple FL rounds. Then, we present a novel analysis that captures the effect of client participation in a single term. By analyzing this term, we obtain convergence upper bounds for a wide range of participation patterns, including both non-stochastic and stochastic cases, which match either the lower bound of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) or the state-of-the-art results in specific settings. We also discuss various insights, recommendations, and experimental results.