# Optimizing Federated Learning by Entropy-Based Client Selection

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.01240 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.01240/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 21 of its 49 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Nov 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 21 of 21)

- [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)
- [Federated Optimization in Heterogeneous Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.06127/) (2018)
- [On the Convergence of FedAvg on Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.02189/) (2019)
- [Tackling the Objective Inconsistency Problem in Heterogeneous Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.07481/) (2020)
- [Towards Federated Learning at Scale: System Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.01046/) (2019)
- [Model-Contrastive Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.16257/) (2021)
- [MedMNIST v2 -- A large-scale lightweight benchmark for 2D and 3D biomedical image classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.14795/) (2021)
- [Federated Learning for Mobile Keyboard Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.03604/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning on Non-IID Data Silos: An Experimental Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.02079/) (2021)
- [Federated Learning Based on Dynamic Regularization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.04263/) (2021)
- [Client Selection in Federated Learning: Convergence Analysis and Power-of-Choice Selection Strategies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.01243/) (2020)
- [Federated Learning with Label Distribution Skew via Logits Calibration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.00189/) (2022)
- [Fast-Convergent Federated Learning with Adaptive Weighting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.00661/) (2020)
- [Deep Federated Learning for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.05754/) (2021)
- [FedCor: Correlation-Based Active Client Selection Strategy for Heterogeneous Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.13822/) (2021)
- [Exploiting Label Skews in Federated Learning with Model Concatenation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06290/) (2023)
- [Understanding and Improving Model Averaging in Federated Learning on Heterogeneous Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.07845/) (2023)
- [A Privacy Preserving System for Movie Recommendations Using Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04689/) (2023)
- [FedEntropy: Efficient Device Grouping for Federated Learning Using Maximum Entropy Judgment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.12038/) (2022)
- [Adaptive Federated Learning via New Entropy Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.14966/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [FedPPA: Progressive Parameter Alignment for Personalized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.14698/) (2025)
- [FedPrism: Adaptive Personalized Federated Learning under Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.08252/) (2026)
- [Cluster-Aware Over-the-Air Federated Learning with Energy-Harvesting Devices: From Global Training to Model Personalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.01426/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Although deep learning has revolutionized domains such as natural language processing and computer vision, its dependence on centralized datasets raises serious privacy concerns. Federated learning addresses this issue by enabling multiple clients to collaboratively train a global deep learning model without compromising their data privacy. However, the performance of such a model degrades under label skew, where the label distribution differs between clients. To overcome this issue, a novel method called FedEntOpt is proposed. In each round, it selects clients to maximize the entropy of the aggregated label distribution, ensuring that the global model is exposed to data from all available classes. Extensive experiments on multiple benchmark datasets show that the proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art algorithms by up to 6% in classification accuracy under standard settings regardless of the model size, while achieving gains of over 30% in scenarios with low participation rates and client dropout. In addition, FedEntOpt offers the flexibility to be combined with existing algorithms, enhancing their classification accuracy by more than 40%. Importantly, its performance remains unaffected even when differential privacy is applied.