Decentralized Proactive Model Offloading and Resource Allocation for Split and Federated Learning

In the resource-constrained Internet of Things (IoT)-edge computing environment, split federated (SplitFed) learning is implemented to enhance training efficiency. This method involves each terminal device dividing its full deep neural network (DNN) model at a designated layer into a device-side model and a server-side model, then offloading the latter to the edge server. However, existing research overlooks four critical issues as follows: 1) the heterogeneity of end devices’ resource capacities and the sizes of their local data samples impact training efficiency; 2) the influence of the edge server’s computation and network resource allocation on training efficiency; 3) the data leakage risk associated with the offloaded server-side submodel; and 4) the privacy drawbacks of current centralized algorithms. Consequently, proactively identifying the optimal cut layer and server resource requirements for each end device to minimize training latency while adhering to data leakage risk rate constraint remains a challenging issue. To address these problems, this article first formulates the latency and data leakage risk of training DNN models using SplitFed learning. Next, we frame the SplitFed learning problem as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming challenge. To tackle this, we propose a decentralized proactive model offloading and resource allocation (DP-MORA) scheme, empowering each end device to determine its cut layer and resource requirements based on its local multidimensional training configuration, without knowledge of other devices’ configurations. Extensive experiments on two real-world datasets demonstrate that the DP-MORA scheme effectively reduces DNN model training latency, enhances training efficiency, and complies with data leakage risk constraints compared to several baseline algorithms across various experimental settings.