Evidence Hub

Deep federated learning: a systematic review of methods, applications, and challenges

Lakshan Cooray, Janaka Sendanayake, Pramuditha Vithanaarachchi, Y. H. P. P. Priyadarshana

Frontiers in Computer Science, 2025

10 citations

Abstract

Federated Learning (FL) represents a paradigm shift in machine learning, enabling collaborative model training on decentralized data while preserving user privacy. However, the transition from theory to real-world application is impeded by significant challenges, including high communication costs, statistical and system heterogeneity and persistent privacy vulnerabilities. These barriers critically limit the performance, scalability and security of FL systems. This paper provides a systematic review of the state-of-the-art solutions developed to address these fundamental obstacles. The review analyzes core methodological advancements, including advanced model aggregation methods, techniques to enhance communication efficiency such as model compression and decentralized training and strategies to combat statistical heterogeneity arising from non-IID data. Furthermore, it delves into emerging paradigms like Federated Meta-Learning and Federated Reinforcement Learning, alongside advanced architectural models such as hierarchical and blockchain-based systems. The practical impact of these advancements is contextualized through a review of key application domains, including healthcare, vehicular networks and the Internet of Things. A benchmark analysis is presented to assess the practical efficacy of these diverse techniques. In conclusion, this work synthesizes the critical trade-offs inherent in FL systems and highlights key directions for future research, offering a…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free