Federated Learning with Cloud-Edge Collaboration (FL-CEC) has emerged as a cutting-edge paradigm in distributed learning. Efficient resource investment incentive mechanisms are crucial to encouraging clients in FL-CEC to contribute the necessary data and computational resources for training. However, existing studies are inadequate in meeting the incentive design requirements under multi-level information-sharing scenarios. Moreover, current works often rely on specific functional relationships between resource investment and global model accuracy. To bridge these gaps, this paper investigates the incentive problem for data and computational resource investment under multi-level information-sharing levels. We design a resource investment incentive mechanism based on a weighted potential game without depending on any specific functional relationship between data investment and model accuracy. Furthermore, we propose four algorithms to solve resource investment strategies for different levels of information sharing. The complexity and convergence rates of the proposed algorithms are thoroughly analyzed. Finally, we construct a simulation incentive platform on the Aliyun. Extensive evaluations demonstrate that the proposed scheme effectively enhances social welfare, and improves collaborative training accuracy and efficiency.

Cloud-Edge Collaborative Architecture (CEA) is a prominent framework that provides low-latency and energy-efficient solutions for video stream processing. In Cloud-Edge Collaborative Video Streaming Systems (CEAVS), efficient online offloading strategies for video tasks are crucial for enhancing user experience. However, most existing works overlook budget constraints, which limits their applicability in real-world scenarios constrained by finite resources. Moreover, they fail to adequately address the heterogeneity of video task redundancies, leading to suboptimal utilization of CEAVS's limited resources. To bridge these gaps, we propose an Efficient Online Computing framework for CEAVS (EOCA) that jointly optimizes accuracy, energy consumption, and latency performance through adaptive online offloading and redundancy compression, without requiring future task information. Technically, we formulate computing offloading and adaptive compression under budget constraints as a stochastic optimization problem that maximizes system satisfaction, defined as a weighted combination of accuracy, latency, and energy performance. We employ Lyapunov optimization to decouple the long-term budget constraint. We prove that the decoupled problem is a generalized ordinal potential game and propose algorithms based on generalized Benders decomposition (GBD) and the best response to obtain Nash equilibrium strategies for computing offloading and task compression. Finally, we analyze EOCA's performance bound, convergence rate, and worst-case performance guarantees. Evaluations demonstrate that EOCA effectively improves satisfaction while effectively balancing satisfaction and computational overhead.

Edge computing significantly enhanced the growth of edge-assistant video streaming applications. However, challenges such as unpredictable wireless conditions, resource constraints, and task redundancy have intertwined impacts on the overall performance of edge video streaming systems (EVS). Therefore, it is essential to have an integrated framework that addresses resource management, computational offloading, and video task preprocessing. Existing optimization strategies often neglect the simultaneous management of computational offloading, resource allocation, and video task preprocessing, leading to a suboptimal system utility. Moreover, they struggle to handle high-dimensional decision variables. On the other hand, learning-based adaptive schemes fall short in integrating distributed decisions and ensuring the scalability of wireless devices. Additionally, current approaches lack adaptive incentives. To bridge these gaps, we propose a novel framework called AIRA, which is based on improved multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) and smart contracts. AIRA manages resources, video compression, and adaptive incentives in a distributed manner. It consists of a MARL-driven cooperative learning algorithm (CLA) and a smart contract-guided adaptive incentive mechanism. Leveraging an actor-critic structure, the CLA enables wireless devices to master strategies for resource allocation, video task compression, and offloading, utilizing historical data. Notably, the CLA incorporates an attention mechanism to select pivotal tuples from the observation-action pairings among different agents, ensuring improved scalability and computational prowess. Evaluations based on real-world trajectories demonstrate that AIRA enables adaptive incentives. Compared to state-of-the-art approaches, CLA effectively enhances the long-term system utility and scalability of EVS.

Serverless computing is a promising approach for edge computing since its inherent features, e.g., lightweight virtualization, rapid scalability, and economic efficiency. However, there are two challenges existing in serverless edge computing: significant cold start latency and request blocking. Previous studies have not successfully resolved these challenges, which affect the Quality of Experience. In this paper, we formulate the Serverless Function Scheduling (SFS) problem in resource-limited edge computing, aiming to minimize the average response time. To solve this intractable scheduling problem, we first consider a simplified offline form of the SFS problem and design a polynomial-time optimal scheduling algorithm. Inspired by this optimal algorithm, we propose an Enhanced Shortest Function First (ESFF) algorithm, including function creation and function replacement. To avoid frequent cold starts, ESFF selectively decides the initialization of new function instances when receiving requests. To deal with request blocking, ESFF judiciously replaces serverless functions based on the function weight at the completion time of requests. Extensive simulations based on real-world serverless request traces are conducted, and the results show that ESFF consistently and substantially outperforms existing baselines under different settings.

Cloud-edge collaboration Architecture (CEA) enables the co-training of AI models by cloud servers and edge servers, offering a promising solution for large-scale model training. An efficient data trading mechanism helps encourage edges to invest data resources to participate in training while reducing the cost of cloud servers. Existing research on data trading within CEA focuses on static scenarios, either overlooking the dynamics of data demand and the fairness of the selected edges or assuming unknown future communication overheads. To bridge these gaps and consider the long-term fairness constraints, we propose an Online Data Trading mechanism for the CEA, called ODT, to improve the long-term utility. Technically, ODT decouples the long-term fairness constraint into a series of single time-slot sub-problems using the Lyapunov optimization method and applies dynamic programming to solve the single time-slot edge selection sub-problems. We prove the NP-hardness of the sub-problems, the performance bounds, and the computational complexity of the proposed algorithm. Evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed mechanism effectively improves long-term utility and achieves an efficient trade-off between fairness and utility.

In the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cross-silo federated learning (CSFL) enables entities, such as manufacturers and suppliers to train global models for optimizing production processes while ensuring data privacy. A well-designed incentive mechanism is essential to persuade clients to contribute data resources. However, existing methodologies overlook the dynamic nature of the training process, where the accuracy of the globally trained model and the client’s data ownership change over time. Furthermore, the majority of previous research assumes a defined functional relationship between the data contribution and the model accuracy, which is infeasible in realistic and dynamic training environments. To address these challenges, we design a novel adaptive mechanism for CSFL that inspires organizations to contribute data resources in a dynamic training environment with the aim of maximizing their long-term payoffs. This mechanism leverages multiagent reinforcement learning (MARL) to ascertain near-optimal data contribution strategies from potential game histories without necessitating private organizational information or a precise accuracy function. Experimental results indicate that our mechanism achieves adaptive incentive in dynamic environments and effectively enhances the long-term payoffs of organizations.

Federated learning (FL) is a technique that enables clients to collaboratively train a model by sharing local models instead of raw private data. However, existing reconstruction attacks can recover the sensitive training samples from the shared models. Additionally, the emerging poisoning attacks also pose severe threats to the security of FL. However, most existing Byzantine-robust privacy-preserving federated learning solutions either reduce the accuracy of aggregated models or introduce significant computation and communication overheads. In this paper, we propose a novelBlockchain-basedSecure andRobustFederatedLearning (BSR-FL) framework to mitigate reconstruction attacks and poisoning attacks. BSR-FL avoids accuracy loss while ensuring efficient privacy protection and Byzantine robustness. Specifically, we first construct a lightweight non-interactive functional encryption (NIFE) scheme to protect the privacy of local models while maintaining high communication performance. Then, we propose a privacy-preserving defensive aggregation strategy based on NIFE, which can resist encrypted poisoning attacks without compromising model privacy through secure cosine similarity and incentive-based Byzantine-tolerance aggregation. Finally, we utilize the blockchain system to assist in facilitating the processes of federated learning and the implementation of protocols. Extensive theoretical analysis and experiments demonstrate that our new BSR-FL has enhanced privacy security, robustness, and high efficiency.

We are witnessing a rapid growth of electric vehicles in both individual and public transportation. Many large-scale company-built electric bus charging stations have been established to facilitate public transportation, while these electric bus charging stations are not accessible to private vehicles. The motivation for this work comes from the possibility of opening surplus resources in electric bus charging stations to alleviate the charging resource shortage and gain extra profit for the electric bus charging station. The operation facing private vehicles, however, also encounters obstacles including serious congestion induced by absorbing private vehicles and delays of bus lines due to private vehicles occupying charging points. To jointly solve these challenges, we propose a real-time control mechanism to maximize the long-term net profit of an electric bus charging station based on Lyapunov optimization theory and generalized benders decomposition, while maintaining the congestion level and ensuring timetables of buses. We demonstrate through rigorous theoretical proof that the proposed mechanism can be arbitrarily close to the optimal solution. Comprehensive evaluation experiments with real-world data sets have been conducted to show the credibility of the mechanism in reducing congestion, ensuring bus timetables, and maximizing the long-term net profit.

Edge computing is a highly promising technology that empowers mobile devices to offload video streaming tasks to edge servers, thereby improving the video stream analysis performance. However, most existing research on edge video streaming has failed to give adequate attention to the joint optimization of video streaming tasks with respect to dynamics, redundancy, and long-term energy constraints. To address this limitation, we propose a novel method based on a multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm, which significantly enhances the performance of edge video stream analysis under long-term energy constraints. Specifically, our proposed method conducts video compression and offloading under long-term energy constraints to maximize the long-term rewards of video task processing. Experimental evaluations have demonstrated the convergence of the proposed method, which outperforms the baseline solutions, achieving higher long-term rewards.

Cross-silo federated learning (CFL) is a distributed learning paradigm that allows organizations (e.g., financial or medical entities) to train a global model on siloed data. Recent studies on mechanisms designed for CFL, however, rarely jointly consider the potential inter-organizational competition and the lack of credibility between organizations, which may discourage organizational participation. In this paper, we investigate the problem of inter-organizational competition and credibility assurance. We propose a distributed trading mechanism, called$TradeFL$, to incentivize organizations to contribute data and computational resources through mutual trading among organizations. Technically, TradeFL characterizes the competition among organizations and compensates for their damage incurred by competition. TradeFL runs on distributed organizations and provides credibility guarantees for compensation through a customized smart contract11Illustration of the prototype: https://github.com/user10963.. We prove that the interaction among organizations that contribute resources to maximize personal payoffs is a weighted potential game. Then, we propose a centralized algorithm and a distributed algorithm to determine the optimal resource contribution. Simulation results and evaluations based on real-world datasets demonstrate that our scheme achieves higher social welfare, increases the amount of contributed data by up to 64%, and improves the accuracy of the global model by at most 23.2%.

Edge computing has been introduced as a promising technology for real-time video streaming systems. However, due to the lack of automatic incentives and the limitation of resources, traditional edge computing performs poorly in nowadays scenarios. To handle these two challenges, we propose a framework ofJointIncentive design andResourceAllocation (JIRA) for edge-based real-time video streaming systems. Technically, to ensure the trust and automatic distribution of incentives, we develop a novel smart contract based incentive mechanism and implement a prototype. Meanwhile, we propose an efficient online algorithm, i.e., JIRA, which dynamically adjusts compression ratio, offloading decision, and resource allocation to achieve performance optimization for video streaming under long-term latency and resource constraints. Specifically, JIRA is based on Lyapunov optimization, which decomposes the challenging long-term decision problem into a series of real-time optimization problems. Then we propose a multi-cut Generalized Benders Decomposition based algorithm (MGA) to tackle the non-convexity of the decomposed problem. Through rigorous theoretical analysis, we prove the performance bound of JIRA. Extensive simulations demonstrate that the proposed schemes can achieve an efficient trade-off between accuracy performance and energy consumption.

Blockchain and edge computing have been widely applied in video streaming systems. However, previous works lack a joint consideration of video redundancy and full utilization of edge resources (bandwidth resources, CPU frequency), resulting in suboptimal performance of video streaming systems. In this paper, we propose a computing offloading framework for blockchain-enabled video streaming systems to fully exploit edge resources and reduce energy consumption. Specifically, we formulate computing offloading, resource allocation, and adaptive compression as a joint optimization problem. We transform and decompose the original non-convex problem and propose an algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to solve the decomposed problem in a distributed manner. Simulation results demonstrate that our scheme can effectively reduce energy consumption and fully utilize the bandwidth and computational resources.

Limited by the incomprehensive training samples, existing scene graph generation (SGG) methods perform poorly on predicting zero-shot (i.e., unseen) subject-predicate-object triples. To address this problem, we propose a general SGG framework to improve their zero-shot performance. The main idea of our method is to generate the information of zero-shot triples before the training of the predicate classifier and thus make the original zero-shot triples non-zero-shot. Specifically, the missing information of zero-shot triples is generated by our proposed knowledge graph completion strategy and then integrated with visual features of images. Therefore, the predicate classification of zero-shot triples is no longer just regarded as a single visual classification task but also transformed into a prediction task of missing links in a knowledge graph. The experiments on the dataset Visual Genome demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in popular zero-shot metrics (i.e., zR@N, ng-zR@N) for all popular SGG tasks.

Existing scene graph generation (SGG) methods are far from practical, primarily due to their poor performance on predicting zero-shot (i.e., unseen) subject-predicate-object triples. We observe that these SGG methods treat images along with the triples in them independently and thus fail to consider the complex and hidden information that is inherently implicit in the triples of other images. To this effect, our paper proposes a novel encoder-decoder SGG framework to leverage the semantic correlations between the triples of different images into the prediction of a zero-shot triple. Specifically, the encoder aggregates the triples in each image of training set into a large knowledge graph and learns the entity embeddings that capture the features of their neighborhoods with a relational graph neural network. The neighborhood-aware embeddings are then fed into the vision-based decoder to predict the predicates in images. Extensive experiments on the popular benchmark Visual Genome demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in popular zero-shot metrics (i.e., zR@N, ngzR@N) for all SGG tasks.

With the growth of data scale in the mobile edge computing (MEC) network, data security of the MEC network has become a burning concern. The application of blockchain technology in MEC enhances data security and privacy protection. However, throughput becomes the bottleneck of the blockchain-enabled MEC system. Hence, this paper proposes a novel hierarchical and partitioned blockchain framework to improve scalability while guaranteeing the security of partitions. Next, we model the joint optimization of throughput and security as a Markov decision process (MDP). After that, we adopt deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based algorithms to obtain the number of partitions, the size of micro blocks and the large block generation interval. Finally, we analyze the security and throughput performance of proposed schemes. Simulation results demonstrate that proposed schemes can improve throughput while ensuring the security of partitions.

In edge computing, computation offloading of video stream tasks and collaboration processing among edge nodes is a huge challenge. The previous research mainly focuses on the selection of computing modes and resource allocation, but taking no joint consideration of computation offloading and collaborative processing of edge node groups. In order to jointly tackle these issues in edge computing, we propose an innovative distributed collaborative video stream processing framework for edge computing(DCVP), where the video tasks are assigned to mobile edge computing (MEC) nodes or edge groups based on the offloading decision. First, we design a method for the group formation, which matches video subtasks to appropriate edge groups. In addition, we present two offloading modes for video streaming tasks, e.g., offloading to MEC nodes or edge groups, to handle computationally intensive video tasks. Furthermore, we formulate the joint optimization problem for offloading decision and collaborative processing of video subtasks into a distributed optimization problem. Finally, we employ an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)-based algorithm to solve the problem. Simulation results under multiple parameters show the proposed schemes outperform other typical schemes.