# Topology-Aware Knowledge Propagation in Decentralized Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.11760 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.11760/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 51 of its 92 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 May 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 51)

- [Very Deep Convolutional Networks for Large-Scale Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.1556/) (2014)
- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [Scaling Laws for Neural Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.08361/) (2020)
- [Fashion-MNIST: a Novel Image Dataset for Benchmarking Machine Learning Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.07747/) (2017)
- [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)
- [BadNets: Identifying Vulnerabilities in the Machine Learning Model Supply Chain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.06733/) (2017)
- [LEAF: A Benchmark for Federated Settings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01097/) (2018)
- [Can Decentralized Algorithms Outperform Centralized Algorithms? A Case Study for Decentralized Parallel Stochastic Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.09056/) (2017)
- [Towards Out-Of-Distribution Generalization: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.13624/) (2021)
- [Adaptive Federated Learning in Resource Constrained Edge Computing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.05271/) (2018)
- [A Survey on Federated Learning Systems: Vision, Hype and Reality for Data Privacy and Protection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.09693/) (2019)
- [Using Pre-Training Can Improve Model Robustness and Uncertainty](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.09960/) (2019)
- [A Unified Theory of Decentralized SGD with Changing Topology and Local Updates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.10422/) (2020)
- [Community Detection and Stochastic Block Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.10146/) (2017)
- [The Non-IID Data Quagmire of Decentralized Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.00189/) (2019)
- [Pretrained Transformers Improve Out-of-Distribution Robustness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.06100/) (2020)
- [Parallel Restarted SGD with Faster Convergence and Less Communication: Demystifying Why Model Averaging Works for Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.06629/) (2018)
- [One weird trick for parallelizing convolutional neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1404.5997/) (2014)
- [Federated Learning for Internet of Things: A Comprehensive Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.07914/) (2021)
- [Federated learning with hierarchical clustering of local updates to improve training on non-IID data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.11791/) (2020)
- [Decentralized Stochastic Optimization and Gossip Algorithms with Compressed Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.00340/) (2019)
- [A Hybrid Approach to Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.03224/) (2018)
- [Client-Edge-Cloud Hierarchical Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.06641/) (2019)
- [On the Linear Speedup Analysis of Communication Efficient Momentum SGD for Distributed Non-Convex Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.03817/) (2019)
- [Heterogeneous Federated Learning: State-of-the-art and Research Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10616/) (2023)
- [Asynchronous Decentralized Parallel Stochastic Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.06952/) (2017)
- [Decentralized Federated Learning: Fundamentals, State of the Art, Frameworks, Trends, and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.08413/) (2022)
- [BrainTorrent: A Peer-to-Peer Environment for Decentralized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.06731/) (2019)
- [Decentralized Deep Learning with Arbitrary Communication Compression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.09356/) (2019)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Decentralized learning enables collaborative training of models across naturally distributed data without centralized coordination or maintenance of a global model. Instead, devices are organized in arbitrary communication topologies, in which they can only communicate with neighboring devices. Each device maintains its own local model by training on its local data and integrating new knowledge via model aggregation with neighbors. Therefore, knowledge is propagated across the topology via successive aggregation rounds. We study, in particular, the propagation of out-of-distribution (OOD) knowledge. We find that popular decentralized learning algorithms struggle to propagate OOD knowledge effectively to all devices. Further, we find that both the location of OOD data within a topology, and the topology itself, significantly impact OOD knowledge propagation. We then propose topology-aware aggregation strategies to accelerate (OOD) knowledge propagation across devices. These strategies improve OOD data accuracy, compared to topology-unaware baselines, by 123% on average across models in a topology.