# FedAC: An Adaptive Clustered Federated Learning Framework for Heterogeneous Data

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.16460 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.16460/

## Key facts

- Cited by 25 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 23 of its 38 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 23 of 23)

- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [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)
- [Personalized Federated Learning with Moreau Envelopes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.08848/) (2020)
- [Federated Learning with Personalization Layers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.00818/) (2019)
- [An Efficient Framework for Clustered Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.04088/) (2020)
- [Clustered Federated Learning: Model-Agnostic Distributed Multi-Task Optimization under Privacy Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.01991/) (2019)
- [FedProto: Federated Prototype Learning across Heterogeneous Clients](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.00243/) (2021)
- [Federated learning with hierarchical clustering of local updates to improve training on non-IID data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.11791/) (2020)
- [Personalized Federated Learning using Hypernetworks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.04628/) (2021)
- [Federated Multi-Task Learning under a Mixture of Distributions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.10252/) (2021)
- [Multi-Center Federated Learning: Clients Clustering for Better Personalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.08647/) (2021)
- [Efficient Parallel Split Learning over Resource-constrained Wireless Edge Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.15991/) (2023)
- [Pushing Large Language Models to the 6G Edge: Vision, Challenges, and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.16739/) (2023)
- [Split Learning in 6G Edge Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.12194/) (2023)
- [AdaptSFL: Adaptive Split Federated Learning in Resource-constrained Edge Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.13101/) (2024)
- [Aggregating Deep Convolutional Features for Image Retrieval](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1510.07493/) (2015)
- [FedGroup: Efficient Clustered Federated Learning via Decomposed Data-Driven Measure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.06870/) (2020)
- [Optimal Resource Allocation for U-Shaped Parallel Split Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08896/) (2023)
- [AutoFed: Heterogeneity-Aware Federated Multimodal Learning for Robust Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.08646/) (2023)
- [Collaborative Perception for Connected and Autonomous Driving: Challenges, Possible Solutions and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.01544/) (2024)
- [Personalized Federated Learning with Contextualized Generalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.13044/) (2021)
- [Adaptive Communications in Collaborative Perception with Domain Alignment for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.00013/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 25 of 25)

- [Mobile Edge Intelligence for Large Language Models: A Contemporary Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.18921/) (2024)
- [SplitLoRA: A Split Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning Framework for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.00952/) (2024)
- [Hierarchical Split Federated Learning: Convergence Analysis and System Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.07197/) (2024)
- [SatFed: A Resource-Efficient LEO Satellite-Assisted Heterogeneous Federated Learning Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.13503/) (2024)
- [IC3M: In-Car Multimodal Multi-object Monitoring for Abnormal Status of Both Driver and Passengers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.02592/) (2024)
- [SATSense: Multi-Satellite Collaborative Framework for Spectrum Sensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.15542/) (2024)
- [Non-IID data in Federated Learning: A Survey with Taxonomy, Metrics, Methods, Frameworks and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.12377/) (2024)
- [Dynamic Uncertainty-aware Multimodal Fusion for Outdoor Health Monitoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09085/) (2025)
- [State-Aware Perturbation Optimization for Robust Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20613/) (2025)
- [Robust Deep Reinforcement Learning in Robotics via Adaptive Gradient-Masked Adversarial Attacks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20844/) (2025)
- [LEED: A Highly Efficient and Scalable LLM-Empowered Expert Demonstrations Framework for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.14680/) (2025)
- [Conflict-Aware Client Selection for Multi-Server Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.02458/) (2026)
- [NSC-SL: A Bandwidth-Aware Neural Subspace Compression for Communication-Efficient Split Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.02696/) (2026)
- [Federated Learning Clients Clustering with Adaptation to Data Drifts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.01580/) (2024)
- [A Satellite-Ground Synergistic Large Vision-Language Model System for Earth Observation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.05731/) (2025)
- [Sample Efficient Experience Replay in Non-stationary Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.15032/) (2025)
- [t-READi: Transformer-Powered Robust and Efficient Multimodal Inference for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.09747/) (2024)
- [Secure Resource Allocation via Constrained Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.11557/) (2025)
- [Intra-DP: A High Performance Collaborative Inference System for Mobile Edge Computing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.05829/) (2025)
- [Taming Latency and Bandwidth: A Theoretical Framework and Adaptive Algorithm for Communication-Constrained Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.17346/) (2025)
- [Tracing Human Stress from Physiological Signals using UWB Radar](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.10155/) (2024)
- [DP-TRAE: A Dual-Phase Merging Transferable Reversible Adversarial Example for Image Privacy Protection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.06860/) (2025)
- [FedOC: Multi-Server FL with Overlapping Client Relays in Wireless Edge Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.19398/) (2025)
- [FedDAG: Clustered Federated Learning via Global Data and Gradient Integration for Heterogeneous Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.23504/) (2026)
- [CA-AFP: Cluster-Aware Adaptive Federated Pruning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.01739/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Clustered federated learning (CFL) is proposed to mitigate the performance deterioration stemming from data heterogeneity in federated learning (FL) by grouping similar clients for cluster-wise model training. However, current CFL methods struggle due to inadequate integration of global and intra-cluster knowledge and the absence of an efficient online model similarity metric, while treating the cluster count as a fixed hyperparameter limits flexibility and robustness. In this paper, we propose an adaptive CFL framework, named FedAC, which (1) efficiently integrates global knowledge into intra-cluster learning by decoupling neural networks and utilizing distinct aggregation methods for each submodule, significantly enhancing performance; (2) includes a costeffective online model similarity metric based on dimensionality reduction; (3) incorporates a cluster number fine-tuning module for improved adaptability and scalability in complex, heterogeneous environments. Extensive experiments show that FedAC achieves superior empirical performance, increasing the test accuracy by around 1.82% and 12.67% on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets, respectively, under different non-IID settings compared to SOTA methods.