Haoming Ma

Haoming Ma, Xiaojun Yuan, Zhi Ding et al.

To achieve communication-efficient federated multitask learning (FMTL), we propose an over-the-air FMTL (OAFMTL) framework, where multiple learning tasks deployed on edge devices share a non-orthogonal fading channel under the coordination of an edge server (ES). In OA-FMTL, the local updates of edge devices are sparsified, compressed, and then sent over the uplink channel in a superimposed fashion. The ES employs over-the-air computation in the presence of intertask interference. More specifically, the model aggregations of all the tasks are reconstructed from the channel observations concurrently, based on a modified version of the turbo compressed sensing (Turbo-CS) algorithm (named as M-Turbo-CS). We analyze the performance of the proposed OA-FMTL framework together with the M-Turbo-CS algorithm. Furthermore, based on the analysis, we formulate a communication-learning optimization problem to improve the system performance by adjusting the power allocation among the tasks at the edge devices. Numerical simulations show that our proposed OAFMTL effectively suppresses the inter-task interference, and achieves a learning performance comparable to its counterpart with orthogonal multi-task transmission. It is also shown that the proposed inter-task power allocation optimization algorithm substantially reduces the overall communication overhead by appropriately adjusting the power allocation among the tasks.

Xiaojun Yuan, Haoming Ma, Yinuo Huang et al.

Semantic communications leverage artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to extract semantic information for efficient data delivery, thereby significantly reducing communication cost. With the evolution towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), the increasing demands for AGI services pose new challenges to semantic communications. In this context, an AGI application is typically defined on a general-sense task, covering a broad, even unforeseen, set of objectives, as well as driven by the need for a human-friendly interface in forms (e.g., videos, images, or text) easily understood by human users.In response, we introduce an AGI-driven communication paradigm for supporting AGI applications, called generative semantic communication (GSC). We first describe the basic concept of GSC and its difference from existing semantic communications, and then introduce a general framework of GSC based on advanced AI technologies including foundation models and generative models. Two case studies are presented to verify the advantages of GSC. Finally, open challenges and new research directions are discussed to stimulate this line of research and pave the way for practical applications.

Haoming Ma, Xiaojun Yuan, Dian Fan et al.

In this letter, we introduce over-the-air computation into the communication design of federated multi-task learning (FMTL), and propose an over-the-air federated multi-task learning (OA-FMTL) framework, where multiple learning tasks deployed on edge devices share a non-orthogonal fading channel under the coordination of an edge server (ES). Specifically, the model updates for all the tasks are transmitted and superimposed concurrently over a non-orthogonal uplink fading channel, and the model aggregations of all the tasks are reconstructed at the ES through a modified version of the turbo compressed sensing algorithm (Turbo-CS) that overcomes inter-task interference. Both convergence analysis and numerical results show that the OA-FMTL framework can significantly improve the system efficiency in terms of reducing the number of channel uses without causing substantial learning performance degradation.