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Distribution Deviation-Aware Split Federated Learning in Resource-Limited Wireless Networks

Chunfeng Xie Zhixiong Chen Wenqiang Yi Hyundung Shin Arumgam Nallanathan
2026 · IEEE Transactions on Communications · Vol 74, pp. 10709-10725 · 1 citation · 40 references
Computer Science

Abstract

The escalating complexity of deep neural networks introduces substantial challenges to deploying federated learning (FL) in resource-limited edge environments. To address these limitations, split federated learning (SFL) has emerged as a promising paradigm, alleviating client-side computational and communication burdens via strategic model splitting, and periodically aggregating client-side and server-side models consistent with the principles of FL. Nevertheless, existing SFL frameworks encounter significant performance degradation arising from data heterogeneity and imbalance, client heterogeneity, as well as constrained wireless resources. To overcome these issues, this paper introduces a novel data distribution deviation-aware split federated learning (DA-SFL) framework. DA-SFL dynamically adjusts aggregation weights according to the deviation of clients’ data distributions from a global distribution, effectively mitigating biases induced by data imbalance and heterogeneity. Furthermore, we theoretically establish the convergence bound of DA-SFL under a non-convex loss function setting, demonstrating that minimizing the data deviation in each training round enhances learning efficacy. Motivated by this, we formulate a mixed-integer nonlinear programming to optimize learning performance under long-term energy constraints. Leveraging the Lyapunov optimization framework, we decompose the problem into a series of tractable subproblems in each learning round, and propose efficient algorithms to find the client scheduling, adaptive cut layer selection, bandwidth allocation, and aggregation weighting policies. Extensive experimental evaluations conducted on Fashion-MNIST, CIFAR-10, and CINIC-10 datasets across diverse scenarios of data heterogeneity and imbalance demonstrate that DA-SFL significantly outperforms baselines regarding test accuracy, time and energy efficiency, while exhibiting notable robustness and scalability.

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