# Federated Split Learning with Improved Communication and Storage Efficiency

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15816 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.15816/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 36 of its 60 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 21 Jul 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 36)

- [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)
- [Convex optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01946/) (2021)
- [Federated Learning: Challenges, Methods, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.07873/) (2019)
- [On the Convergence of FedAvg on Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.02189/) (2019)
- [Adaptive Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.00295/) (2020)
- [LEAF: A Benchmark for Federated Settings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01097/) (2018)
- [Federated Optimization: Distributed Machine Learning for On-Device Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.02527/) (2016)
- [Deep Gradient Compression: Reducing the Communication Bandwidth for Distributed Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.01887/) (2017)
- [Split learning for health: Distributed deep learning without sharing raw patient data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.00564/) (2018)
- [Error Feedback Fixes SignSGD and other Gradient Compression Schemes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.09847/) (2019)
- [SplitFed: When Federated Learning Meets Split Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.12088/) (2020)
- [Distributed learning of deep neural network over multiple agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.06060/) (2018)
- [ATOMO: Communication-efficient Learning via Atomic Sparsification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.04090/) (2018)
- [Unleashing the Tiger: Inference Attacks on Split Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.02670/) (2020)
- [Efficient Parallel Split Learning over Resource-constrained Wireless Edge Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.15991/) (2023)
- [Acceleration for Compressed Gradient Descent in Distributed and Federated Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.11364/) (2020)
- [Decoupled Greedy Learning of CNNs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.08164/) (2019)
- [Detailed comparison of communication efficiency of split learning and federated learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.09145/) (2019)
- [Split Learning for collaborative deep learning in healthcare](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.12115/) (2019)
- [End-to-End Evaluation of Federated Learning and Split Learning for Internet of Things](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.13376/) (2020)
- [Can We Use Split Learning on 1D CNN Models for Privacy Preserving Training?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.12365/) (2020)
- [Design and Analysis of Uplink and Downlink Communications for Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.04057/) (2020)
- [Neural Compression and Filtering for Edge-assisted Real-time Object Detection in Challenged Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.15818/) (2020)
- [FedSL: Federated Split Learning on Distributed Sequential Data in Recurrent Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.03180/) (2020)
- [Privacy and Efficiency of Communications in Federated Split Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.01824/) (2023)
- [Communication-Efficient Split Learning via Adaptive Feature-Wise Compression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10805/) (2023)
- [Federated Split Vision Transformer for COVID-19 CXR Diagnosis using Task-Agnostic Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01338/) (2021)
- [ESFL: Efficient Split Federated Learning over Resource-Constrained Heterogeneous Wireless Devices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.15903/) (2024)
- [Random Orthogonalization for Federated Learning in Massive MIMO Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.12490/) (2022)

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

- [Lean Clients, Full Accuracy: Hybrid Zeroth- and First-Order Split Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.09076/) (2026)
- [Accelerating Wireless Distributed Learning via Hybrid Split and Federated Learning Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.19851/) (2025)
- [Momentum-Guided Federated Split Distillation for Personalized Temporal Edge Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.31159/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Federated learning (FL) is one of the popular distributed machine learning (ML) solutions but incurs significant communication and computation costs at edge devices. Federated split learning (FSL) can train sub-models in parallel and reduce the computational burden of edge devices by splitting the model architecture. However, it still requires a high communication overhead due to transmitting the smashed data and gradients between clients and the server in every global round. Furthermore, the server must maintain separate partial models for every client, leading to a significant storage requirement. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel communication and storage efficient federated split learning method, termed CSE-FSL, which utilizes an auxiliary network to locally update the weights of the clients while keeping a single model at the server, hence avoiding frequent transmissions of gradients from the server and greatly reducing the storage requirement of the server. Additionally, a new model update method of transmitting the smashed data in selected epochs can reduce the amount of smashed data sent from the clients. We provide a theoretical analysis of CSE-FSL, rigorously guaranteeing its convergence under non-convex loss functions. The extensive experimental results further indicate that CSE-FSL achieves a significant communication reduction over existing FSL solutions using real-world FL tasks.