# Advances in APPFL: A Comprehensive and Extensible Federated Learning Framework

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.11585 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11585/

## Key facts

- Cited by 19 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 67 of its 106 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 17 Sep 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 67)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [EfficientNet: Rethinking Model Scaling for Convolutional Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.11946/) (2019)
- [Advances and Open Problems in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04977/) (2019)
- [Federated Learning: Challenges, Methods, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.07873/) (2019)
- [3D U-Net: Learning Dense Volumetric Segmentation from Sparse Annotation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.06650/) (2016)
- [Federated Learning: Strategies for Improving Communication Efficiency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.05492/) (2016)
- [Adaptive Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.00295/) (2020)
- [Measuring the Effects of Non-Identical Data Distribution for Federated Visual Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.06335/) (2019)
- [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)
- [How To Backdoor Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.00459/) (2018)
- [Inverting Gradients -- How easy is it to break privacy in federated learning?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.14053/) (2020)
- [Byzantine-Robust Distributed Learning: Towards Optimal Statistical Rates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.01498/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning for Mobile Keyboard Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.03604/) (2018)
- [Local Model Poisoning Attacks to Byzantine-Robust Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.11815/) (2019)
- [Deep Gradient Compression: Reducing the Communication Bandwidth for Distributed Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.01887/) (2017)
- [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)
- [iDLG: Improved Deep Leakage from Gradients](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.02610/) (2020)
- [Client Selection for Federated Learning with Heterogeneous Resources in Mobile Edge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.08333/) (2018)
- [FLTrust: Byzantine-robust Federated Learning via Trust Bootstrapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.13995/) (2020)
- [See through Gradients: Image Batch Recovery via GradInversion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.07586/) (2021)
- [A Field Guide to Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.06917/) (2021)
- [FedML: A Research Library and Benchmark for Federated Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.13518/) (2020)
- [Data Poisoning Attacks Against Federated Learning Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.08432/) (2020)
- [Asynchronous Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.03934/) (2019)
- [Client Selection in Federated Learning: Convergence Analysis and Power-of-Choice Selection Strategies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.01243/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Distributed LLMs and Multimodal Large Language Models: A Survey on Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.16585/) (2025)
- [Cloud-Based AI Systems: Leveraging Large Language Models for Intelligent Fault Detection and Autonomous Self-Healing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.11743/) (2025)
- [Cross-Cloud Data Privacy Protection: Optimizing Collaborative Mechanisms of AI Systems by Integrating Federated Learning and LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.13292/) (2025)
- [Real-time Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Based Network Cooperative Control System through Distributed Database and Multimodal Perception: Demonstrated in Crossroads](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.17576/) (2024)
- [Bias Evaluation and Mitigation in Retrieval-Augmented Medical Question-Answering Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.15454/) (2025)
- [A Comprehensive Review of AI Agents: Transforming Possibilities in Technology and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.11957/) (2025)
- [Story of Two GPUs: Characterizing the Resilience of Hopper H100 and Ampere A100 GPUs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.11901/) (2025)
- [AIDRIN 2.0: A Framework to Assess Data Readiness for AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18213/) (2025)
- [DeepRAG: Integrating Hierarchical Reasoning and Process Supervision for Biomedical Multi-Hop QA](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.00671/) (2025)
- [Credit Risk Analysis for SMEs Using Graph Neural Networks in Supply Chain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.07854/) (2025)
- [Anomaly Detection and Early Warning Mechanism for Intelligent Monitoring Systems in Multi-Cloud Environments Based on LLM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.07407/) (2025)
- [Federated Learning-Based Data Collaboration Method for Enhancing Edge Cloud AI System Security Using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.18087/) (2025)
- [Scalable Cross-Facility Federated Learning for Scientific Foundation Models on Multiple Supercomputers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.19544/) (2026)
- [CADRE: Customizable Assurance of Data Readiness in Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.23849/) (2025)
- [An Intelligent Fault Self-Healing Mechanism for Cloud AI Systems via Integration of Large Language Models and Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.07411/) (2025)
- [Leveraging Large Language Model for Intelligent Log Processing and Autonomous Debugging in Cloud AI Platforms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.17900/) (2025)
- [Cognitive Load Traces as Symbolic and Visual Accounts of Deep Model Cognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15980/) (2025)
- [FedQueue: Queue-Aware Federated Learning for Cross-Facility HPC Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.02125/) (2026)
- [Safe and Adaptive Cloud Healing: Verifying LLM-Generated Recovery Plans with a Neural-Symbolic World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.01595/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Federated learning (FL) is a distributed machine learning paradigm enabling collaborative model training while preserving data privacy. In today's landscape, where most data is proprietary, confidential, and distributed, FL has become a promising approach to leverage such data effectively, particularly in sensitive domains such as medicine and the electric grid. Heterogeneity and security are the key challenges in FL, however, most existing FL frameworks either fail to address these challenges adequately or lack the flexibility to incorporate new solutions. To this end, we present the recent advances in developing APPFL, an extensible framework and benchmarking suite for federated learning, which offers comprehensive solutions for heterogeneity and security concerns, as well as user-friendly interfaces for integrating new algorithms or adapting to new applications. We demonstrate the capabilities of APPFL through extensive experiments evaluating various aspects of FL, including communication efficiency, privacy preservation, computational performance, and resource utilization. We further highlight the extensibility of APPFL through case studies in vertical, hierarchical, and decentralized FL. APPFL is fully open-sourced on GitHub at https://github.com/APPFL/APPFL.