Asynchronous Federated Optimization

TLDR

It is proved that the proposed asynchronous federated optimization algorithm has near-linear convergence to a global optimum, for both strongly and non-strongly convex problems, as well as a restricted family of non-convex problems.

Abstract

Federated learning enables training on a massive number of edge devices. To improve flexibility and scalability, we propose a new asynchronous federated optimization algorithm. We prove that the proposed approach has near-linear convergence to a global optimum, for both strongly and non-strongly convex problems, as well as a restricted family of non-convex problems. Empirical results show that the proposed algorithm converges fast and tolerates staleness.