Distributed Learning and Inference Systems: A Networking Perspective

Machine learning models have achieved, and in some cases surpassed, human-level performance in various tasks, mainly through centralized training of static models and the use of large models stored in centralized clouds for inference. However, this centralized approach has several drawbacks, including privacy concerns, high storage demands, a single point of failure, and significant computing requirements. These challenges have driven interest in developing alternative decentralized and distributed methods for AI training and inference. Distribution introduces additional complexity, as it requires managing multiple moving parts. To address these complexities and fill a gap in the development of distributed AI systems, this work proposes a novel framework, Data and Dynamics-Aware Inference and Training Networks (DA-ITN). The different components of DA-ITN and their functions are explored, and the associated challenges and research areas are highlighted.

Dynamic Encoding and Decoding of Information for Split Learning in Mobile-Edge Computing: Leveraging Information Bottleneck Theory

Split learning is a privacy-preserving distributed learning paradigm in which an ML model (e.g., a neural network) is split into two parts (i.e., an encoder and a decoder). The encoder shares so-called latent representation, rather than raw data, for model training. In mobile-edge computing, network functions (such as traffic forecasting) can be trained via split learning where an encoder resides in a user equipment (UE) and a decoder resides in the edge network. Based on the data processing inequality and the information bottleneck (IB) theory, we present a new framework and training mechanism to enable a dynamic balancing of the transmission resource consumption with the informativeness of the shared latent representations, which directly impacts the predictive performance. The proposed training mechanism offers an encoder-decoder neural network architecture featuring multiple modes of complexity-relevance tradeoffs, enabling tunable performance. The adaptability can accommodate varying real-time network conditions and application requirements, potentially reducing operational expenditure and enhancing network agility. As a proof of concept, we apply the training mechanism to a millimeter-wave (mmWave)-enabled throughput prediction problem. We also offer new insights and highlight some challenges related to recurrent neural networks from the perspective of the IB theory. Interestingly, we find a compression phenomenon across the temporal domain of the sequential model, in addition to the compression phase that occurs with the number of training epochs.