# An Empirical Study of Federated Learning on IoT-Edge Devices: Resource Allocation and Heterogeneity

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.19831 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19831/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 40 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 May 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [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)
- [Federated Learning with Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.00582/) (2018)
- [Towards Federated Learning at Scale: System Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.01046/) (2019)
- [LEAF: A Benchmark for Federated Settings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01097/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning on Non-IID Data Silos: An Experimental Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.02079/) (2021)
- [Federated Learning with Matched Averaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.06440/) (2020)
- [Flower: A Friendly Federated Learning Research Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.14390/) (2020)
- [Robust and Communication-Efficient Federated Learning from Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.02891/) (2019)
- [A Survey on Federated Learning Systems: Vision, Hype and Reality for Data Privacy and Protection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.09693/) (2019)
- [Federated Learning on Non-IID Data: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.06843/) (2021)
- [Federated Learning for Internet of Things: A Comprehensive Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.07914/) (2021)
- [Model Pruning Enables Efficient Federated Learning on Edge Devices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.12326/) (2019)
- [Privacy and Robustness in Federated Learning: Attacks and Defenses](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.06337/) (2020)
- [Recent Advances on Federated Learning: A Systematic Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.01299/) (2023)
- [FedAdapt: Adaptive Offloading for IoT Devices in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.04271/) (2021)
- [Federated Learning for Internet of Things: A Federated Learning Framework for On-device Anomaly Data Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.07976/) (2021)
- [Advancements in Federated Learning: Models, Methods, and Privacy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.11466/) (2023)
- [An Empirical Study of Personalized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.13190/) (2022)
- [Federated Action Recognition on Heterogeneous Embedded Devices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.12147/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [A Thorough Assessment of the Non-IID Data Impact in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.17070/) (2025)
- [Exploring the Practicality of Federated Learning: A Survey Towards the Communication Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.20431/) (2024)
- [Where is the Testbed for my Federated Learning Research?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.14154/) (2024)
- [The More is not the Merrier: Investigating the Effect of Client Size on Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08198/) (2025)
- [Tackling Heterogeneity in Federated Learning via Variance-Reduced Boltzmann Sampling within Homogeneous Social Coalitions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.02897/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Nowadays, billions of phones, IoT and edge devices around the world generate data continuously, enabling many Machine Learning (ML)-based products and applications. However, due to increasing privacy concerns and regulations, these data tend to reside on devices (clients) instead of being centralized for performing traditional ML model training. Federated Learning (FL) is a distributed approach in which a single server and multiple clients collaboratively build an ML model without moving data away from clients. Whereas existing studies on FL have their own experimental evaluations, most experiments were conducted using a simulation setting or a small-scale testbed. This might limit the understanding of FL implementation in realistic environments. In this empirical study, we systematically conduct extensive experiments on a large network of IoT and edge devices (called IoT-Edge devices) to present FL real-world characteristics, including learning performance and operation (computation and communication) costs. Moreover, we mainly concentrate on heterogeneous scenarios, which is the most challenging issue of FL. By investigating the feasibility of on-device implementation, our study provides valuable insights for researchers and practitioners, promoting the practicality of FL and assisting in improving the current design of real FL systems.