VADAF: Visualization for Abnormal Client Detection and Analysis in Federated Learning

Federated Learning (FL) provides a powerful solution to distributed machine learning on a large corpus of decentralized data. It ensures privacy and security by performing computation on devices (which we refer to as clients) based on local data to improve the shared global model. However, the inaccessibility of the data and the invisibility of the computation make it challenging to interpret and analyze the training process, especially to distinguish potential client anomalies. Identifying these anomalies can help experts diagnose and improve FL models. For this reason, we propose a visual analytics system, VADAF, to depict the training dynamics and facilitate analyzing potential client anomalies. Specifically, we design a visualization scheme that supports massive training dynamics in the FL environment. Moreover, we introduce an anomaly detection method to detect potential client anomalies, which are further analyzed based on both the client model’s visual and objective estimation. Three case studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of our system in understanding the FL training process and supporting abnormal client detection and analysis.