Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) presents significant challenges in task offloading, resource allocation, and energy efficiency, necessitating intelligent, scalable, and adaptive solutions. This paper introduces the Hierarchical Multi-Agent Federated Actor-Critic (HMAFAC) algorithm. This nov...

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Main Authors: S. Benila, K. Devi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10965621/
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author S. Benila
K. Devi
author_facet S. Benila
K. Devi
author_sort S. Benila
collection DOAJ
description The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) presents significant challenges in task offloading, resource allocation, and energy efficiency, necessitating intelligent, scalable, and adaptive solutions. This paper introduces the Hierarchical Multi-Agent Federated Actor-Critic (HMAFAC) algorithm. This novel approach integrates hierarchical reinforcement learning with multi-agent federated learning to enhance decision-making in dynamic edge computing environments. It employs multi-agent reinforcement learning to optimize resource allocation and task offloading by leveraging local Actor-Critic models on IoT edge devices. A Deep Q-Network (DQN) agent manages task offloading decisions based on real-time system states, ensuring efficient task execution. To maintain data privacy and reduce communication overhead, federated learning aggregates model updates at the edge server, eliminating the need for raw data exchange. Additionally, a hierarchical framework enables adaptive scheduling, allowing flexible computational scaling from edge to cloud servers based on task complexity and network conditions. By effectively reducing latency and energy consumption, enhancing system adaptability, and maintaining computational efficiency, HMAFAC overcomes key limitations of existing IIoT frameworks. Simulation results validate its superior performance compared to baseline methods regarding resource utilization, energy conservation, and model convergence. These findings establish HMAFAC as a robust and scalable framework for optimizing IIoT applications in distributed and resource-constrained environments. Future work will further explore advanced federated learning techniques, enhanced privacy mechanisms, and real-world deployment in industrial systems to improve efficiency and scalability.
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spelling doaj-art-d0b95cee93754a14baef97b4387804192025-08-20T02:18:58ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113683116832210.1109/ACCESS.2025.356078110965621Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoTS. Benila0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3443-4475K. Devi1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8824-5285School of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai Campus, Tamil Nadu, IndiaSchool of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai Campus, Tamil Nadu, IndiaThe Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) presents significant challenges in task offloading, resource allocation, and energy efficiency, necessitating intelligent, scalable, and adaptive solutions. This paper introduces the Hierarchical Multi-Agent Federated Actor-Critic (HMAFAC) algorithm. This novel approach integrates hierarchical reinforcement learning with multi-agent federated learning to enhance decision-making in dynamic edge computing environments. It employs multi-agent reinforcement learning to optimize resource allocation and task offloading by leveraging local Actor-Critic models on IoT edge devices. A Deep Q-Network (DQN) agent manages task offloading decisions based on real-time system states, ensuring efficient task execution. To maintain data privacy and reduce communication overhead, federated learning aggregates model updates at the edge server, eliminating the need for raw data exchange. Additionally, a hierarchical framework enables adaptive scheduling, allowing flexible computational scaling from edge to cloud servers based on task complexity and network conditions. By effectively reducing latency and energy consumption, enhancing system adaptability, and maintaining computational efficiency, HMAFAC overcomes key limitations of existing IIoT frameworks. Simulation results validate its superior performance compared to baseline methods regarding resource utilization, energy conservation, and model convergence. These findings establish HMAFAC as a robust and scalable framework for optimizing IIoT applications in distributed and resource-constrained environments. Future work will further explore advanced federated learning techniques, enhanced privacy mechanisms, and real-world deployment in industrial systems to improve efficiency and scalability.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10965621/Deep Q-Networkedge computingfederated learninghierarchical multi-agent federated actor-critic (HMAFAC)Industrial Internet of Thingstask offloading
spellingShingle S. Benila
K. Devi
Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT
IEEE Access
Deep Q-Network
edge computing
federated learning
hierarchical multi-agent federated actor-critic (HMAFAC)
Industrial Internet of Things
task offloading
title Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT
title_full Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT
title_fullStr Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT
title_full_unstemmed Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT
title_short Federated Synergy: Hierarchical Multi-Agent Learning for Sustainable Edge Computing in IIoT
title_sort federated synergy hierarchical multi agent learning for sustainable edge computing in iiot
topic Deep Q-Network
edge computing
federated learning
hierarchical multi-agent federated actor-critic (HMAFAC)
Industrial Internet of Things
task offloading
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10965621/
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