A Block Successive Upper-Bound Minimization Method of Multipliers for Linearly Constrained Convex Optimization

Consider the problem of minimizing the sum of a smooth convex function and a separable nonsmooth convex function subject to linear coupling constraints. Problems of this form arise in many contemporary applications, including signal processing, wireless networking, and smart grid provisioning. Motivated by the huge size of these applications, we propose a new class of first-order primal–dual algorithms called the block successive upper-bound minimization method of multipliers (BSUM-M) to solve this family of problems. The BSUM-M updates the primal variable blocks successively by minimizing locally tight upper bounds of the augmented Lagrangian of the original problem, followed by a gradient-type update for the dual variable in closed form. We show that under certain regularity conditions, and when the primal block variables are updated in either a deterministic or a random fashion, the BSUM-M converges to a point in the set of optimal solutions. Moreover, in the absence of linear constraints and under similar conditions as in the previous result, we show that the randomized BSUM-M (which reduces to the randomized block successive upper-bound minimization method) converges at an asymptotically linear rate without relying on strong convexity.