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Karl H. Johansson

Publications and source records attributed to Karl H. Johansson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Wasserstein Distributionally Robust Nash Equilibrium Seeking with Heterogeneous Data: A Lagrangian Approach

We study a class of distributionally robust games where agents are allowed to heterogeneously choose their risk aversion with respect to distributional shifts of the uncertainty. In our formulation, heterogeneous Wasserstein ball constraints on each distribution are enforced through a penalty function leveraging a Lagrangian formulation. We then formulate the distributionally robust Nash equilibrium problem and show that under certain assumptions it is equivalent to a finite-dimensional variational inequality problem with a strongly monotone mapping. We then design an approximate Nash equilibrium seeking algorithm and prove convergence of the average regret to a quantity that diminishes with the number of iterations, thus learning the desired equilibrium up to an a priori specified accuracy. Numerical simulations corroborate our theoretical findings.

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Communication-Efficient Learning for Satellite Constellations

Satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit are now widespread, enabling positioning, Earth imaging, and communications. In this paper we address the solution of learning problems using these satellite constellations. In particular, we focus on a federated approach, where satellites collect and locally process data, with the ground station aggregating local models. We focus on designing a novel, communication-efficient algorithm that still yields accurate trained models. To this end, we employ several mechanisms to reduce the number of communications with the ground station (local training) and their size (compression). We then propose an error feedback mechanism that enhances accuracy, which yields, as a byproduct, an algorithm-agnostic error feedback scheme that can be more broadly applied. We analyze the convergence of the resulting algorithm, and compare it with the state of the art through simulations in a realistic space scenario, showcasing superior performance.

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Communication-Efficient Distributed Online Nonconvex Optimization with Time-Varying Constraints

This paper considers distributed online nonconvex optimization with time-varying inequality constraints over a network of agents, where the nonconvex local loss and convex local constraint functions can vary arbitrarily across iterations. For a time-varying directed graph, we propose two distributed bandit online primal--dual algorithm with compressed communication to efficiently utilize communication resources in the one-point and two-point bandit feedback settings, respectively. To measure the performance of the proposed algorithms, we use a network regret metric grounded in the first-order optimality condition associated with the variational inequality. We show that the compressed algorithms establish sublinear network regret and cumulative constraint violation bounds. Moreover, the network cumulative constraint violation bounds are reduced under Slater's condition. Finally, a simulation example is presented to validate the theoretical results.

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Probe-and-Release Coordination of Platoons at Highway Bottlenecks with Unknown Parameters

This paper considers coordination of platoons of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) at mixed-autonomy bottlenecks in the face of three practically important factors, viz. time-varying traffic demand, random CAV platoon sizes, and capacity breakdowns. Platoon coordination is essential to smoothen the interaction between CAV platoons and non-CAV traffic. Based on a fluid queuing model, we develop a "probe-and-release" algorithm that simultaneously estimates environmental parameters and coordinates CAV platoons for traffic stabilization. We show that this algorithm ensures bounded estimation errors and bounded traffic queues. The proof builds on a Lyapunov function that jointly penalizes estimation errors and traffic queues and a drift argument for an embedded Markov process. We validate the proposed algorithm in a standard micro-simulation environment and compare against a representative deep reinforcement learning method in terms of control performance and computational efficiency.

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Learning a Network Digital Twin as a Hybrid System

Network digital twin (NDT) models are virtual models that replicate the behavior of physical communication networks and are considered a key technology component to enable novel features and capabilities in future 6G networks. In this work, we focus on NDTs that model the communication quality properties of a multi-cell, dynamically changing wireless network over a workspace populated with multiple moving users. We propose an NDT modeled as a hybrid system, where each mode corresponds to a different base station and comprises sub-modes that correspond to areas of the workspace with similar network characteristics. The proposed hybrid NDT is identified and continuously improved through an annealing optimization-based learning algorithm, driven by online data measurements collected by the users. The advantages of the proposed hybrid NDT are studied with respect to memory and computational efficiency, data consumption, and the ability to timely adapt to network changes. Finally, we validate the proposed methodology on real experimental data collected from a two-cell 5G testbed.

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Quantifying Security for Networked Control Systems: A Review

Networked Control Systems (NCSs) are integral in critical infrastructures such as power grids, transportation networks, and production systems. Ensuring the resilient operation of these large-scale NCSs against cyber-attacks is crucial for societal well-being. Over the past two decades, extensive research has been focused on developing metrics to quantify the vulnerabilities of NCSs against attacks. Once the vulnerabilities are quantified, mitigation strategies can be employed to enhance system resilience. This article provides a comprehensive overview of methods developed for assessing NCS vulnerabilities and the corresponding mitigation strategies. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of probabilistic risk metrics to model vulnerabilities under adversaries with imperfect process knowledge. The article concludes by outlining promising directions for future research.

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pyspect: An Extensible Toolbox for Automatic Construction of Temporal Logic Trees via Reachability Analysis

In this paper, we present pyspect, a Python toolbox that simplifies the use of reachability analysis for temporal logic problems. Currently, satisfying complex requirements in cyber-physical systems requires significant manual effort and domain expertise to develop the underlying reachability programs. This high development effort limits the broader adoption of reachability analysis for complex verification problems. To address this, pyspect provides a method-agnostic approach to performing reachability analysis for verifying a temporal logic specification via temporal logic trees (TLTs). It enables the specification of complex safety and liveness requirements using high-level logic formulations that are independent of any particular reachability technique or set representation. As a result, pyspect allows for the comparison of different reachability implementations, such as Hamilton-Jacobi and Hybrid Zonotope-based reachability analysis, for the same temporal logic specification. This design separates the concerns of implementation developers (who develop numerical procedures for reachability) and end-users (who write specifications). Through a simple vehicle example, we demonstrate how pyspect simplifies the synthesis of reachability programs, promotes specification reusability, and facilitates side-by-side comparisons of reachability techniques for complex tasks.

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Distributionally Robust Federated Learning with Outlier Resilience

Federated learning (FL) enables collaborative model training without direct data sharing, but its performance can degrade significantly in the presence of data distribution perturbations. Distributionally robust optimization (DRO) provides a principled framework for handling this by optimizing performance against the worst-case distributions within a prescribed ambiguity set. However, existing DRO-based FL methods often overlook the detrimental impact of outliers in local datasets, which can disproportionately bias the learned models. In this work, we study distributionally robust federated learning with explicit outlier resilience. We introduce a novel ambiguity set based on the unbalanced Wasserstein distance, which jointly captures geometric distributional shifts and incorporates a non-geometric Kullback--Leibler penalization to mitigate the influence of outliers. This formulation naturally leads to a challenging min--max--max optimization problem. To enable decentralized training, we reformulate the problem as a tractable Lagrangian penalty optimization, which admits robustness certificates. Building on this reformulation, we propose the distributionally outlier-robust federated learning algorithm and establish its convergence guarantees. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

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Federated Flow Matching

Data today is decentralized, generated and stored across devices and institutions where privacy, ownership, and regulation prevent centralization. This motivates the need to train generative models directly from distributed data locally without central aggregation. In this paper, we introduce Federated Flow Matching (FFM), a framework for training flow matching models under privacy constraints. Specifically, we first examine FFM-vanilla, where each client trains locally with independent source and target couplings, preserving privacy but yielding curved flows that slow inference. We then develop FFM-LOT, which employs local optimal transport couplings to improve straightness within each client but lacks global consistency under heterogeneous data. Finally, we propose FFM-GOT, a federated strategy based on the semi-dual formulation of optimal transport, where a shared global potential function coordinates couplings across clients. Experiments on synthetic and image datasets show that FFM enables privacy-preserving training while enhancing both the flow straightness and sample quality in federated settings, with performance comparable to the centralized baseline.

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Asymmetric Feedback Learning in Online Convex Games

This paper considers convex games involving multiple agents that aim to minimize their own cost functions using locally available information. A common assumption in the study of such games is that the agents are symmetric, meaning that they have access to the same type of information. Here we lift this assumption, which is often violated in practice, and instead consider asymmetric agents; specifically, we assume some agents have access to first-order gradient information and others have access to the zeroth-order oracles (cost function evaluations). We propose an asymmetric learning algorithm that combines the agent information mechanisms. We analyze the regret and Nash equilibrium convergence of this algorithm for convex and strongly monotone games, respectively. Specifically, we show that our algorithm always performs between pure first- and zeroth-order methods, and can match the performance of these two extremes by adjusting the number of agents with access to zeroth-order oracles. Therefore, our algorithm incorporates the pure first- and zeroth-order methods as special cases. We provide numerical experiments on a market problem for both deterministic and risk-averse games to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

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Distributed Constrained Online Nonconvex Optimization with Compressed Communication

This paper considers distributed online nonconvex optimization with time-varying inequality constraints over a network of agents. For a time-varying graph, we propose a distributed online primal-dual algorithm with compressed communication to efficiently utilize communication resources. We show that the proposed algorithm establishes an $\mathcal{O}( {{T^{\max \{ {1 - {θ_1},{θ_1}} \}}}} )$ network regret bound and an $\mathcal{O}( {T^{1 - {θ_1}/2}} )$ network cumulative constraint violation bound, where $T$ is the number of iterations and ${θ_1} \in ( {0,1} )$ is a user-defined trade-off parameter. When Slater's condition holds (i.e, there is a point that strictly satisfies the inequality constraints at all iterations), the network cumulative constraint violation bound is reduced to $\mathcal{O}( {T^{1 - {θ_1}}} )$. These bounds are comparable to the state-of-the-art results established by existing distributed online algorithms with perfect communication for distributed online convex optimization with (time-varying) inequality constraints. Finally, a simulation example is presented to validate the theoretical results.

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Source-Guided Flow Matching

Guidance of generative models is typically achieved by modifying the probability flow vector field through the addition of a guidance field. In this paper, we instead propose the Source-Guided Flow Matching (SGFM) framework, which modifies the source distribution directly while keeping the pre-trained vector field intact. This reduces the guidance problem to a well-defined problem of sampling from the source distribution. We theoretically show that SGFM recovers the desired target distribution exactly. Furthermore, we provide bounds on the Wasserstein error for the generated distribution when using an approximate sampler of the source distribution and an approximate vector field. The key benefit of our approach is that it allows the user to flexibly choose the sampling method depending on their specific problem. To illustrate this, we systematically compare different sampling methods and discuss conditions for asymptotically exact guidance. Moreover, our framework integrates well with optimal flow matching models since the straight transport map generated by the vector field is preserved. Experimental results on synthetic 2D benchmarks, physics-informed generative tasks, and imaging inverse problems demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed framework.

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Projected Gradient Descent for Constrained Decision-Dependent Optimization

This paper considers the decision-dependent optimization problem, where the data distributions react in response to decisions affecting both the objective function and linear constraints. We propose a new method termed repeated projected gradient descent (RPGD), which iteratively projects points onto evolving feasible sets throughout the optimization process. To analyze the impact of varying projection sets, we show a Lipschitz continuity property of projections onto varying sets with an explicitly given Lipschitz constant. Leveraging this property, we provide sufficient conditions for the convergence of RPGD to the constrained equilibrium point. Compared to the existing dual ascent method, RPGD ensures continuous feasibility throughout the optimization process and reduces the computational burden. We validate our results through numerical experiments on a market problem and dynamic pricing problem.

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First- and Zeroth-Order Learning in Asynchronous Games

This paper investigates the discrete-time asynchronous games in which noncooperative agents seek to minimize their individual cost functions. Building on the assumption of partial asynchronism, i.e., each agent updates at least once within a fixed-length time interval, we explore the conditions to ensure convergence of such asynchronous games. The analysis begins with a simple quadratic game from which we derive tight convergence conditions through the lens of linear control theory. Then, we provide a quasidominance condition for general convex games. Our results demonstrate that this condition is stringent since when this condition is not satisfied, the asynchronous games may fail to converge. We propose both first- and zeroth-order learning algorithms for asynchronous games, depending on the type of available feedback, and analyze their last-iterate convergence rates. Numerical experiments are presented on economic market problems to verify our results.

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Decentralized Optimization via RC-ALADIN with Efficient Quantized Communication

In this paper, we investigate the problem of decentralized consensus optimization over directed graphs with limited communication bandwidth. We introduce a novel decentralized optimization algorithm that combines the Reduced Consensus Augmented Lagrangian Alternating Direction Inexact Newton (RC-ALADIN) method with a finite time quantized coordination protocol, enabling quantized information exchange among nodes. Assuming the nodes' local objective functions are $μ$-strongly convex and simply smooth, we establish global convergence at a linear rate to a neighborhood of the optimal solution, with the neighborhood size determined by the quantization level. Additionally, we show that the same convergence result also holds for the case where the local objective functions are convex and $L$-smooth. Numerical experiments demonstrate that our proposed algorithm compares favorably against algorithms in the current literature while exhibiting communication efficient operation.

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Distributed Quantized Average Consensus in Open Multi-Agent Systems with Dynamic Communication Links

In this paper, we focus on the distributed quantized average consensus problem in open multi-agent systems consisting of communication links that change dynamically over time. Open multi-agent systems exhibiting the aforementioned characteristic are referred to as \textit{open dynamic multi-agent systems} in this work. We present a distributed algorithm that enables active nodes in the open dynamic multi-agent system to calculate the quantized average of their initial states. Our algorithm consists of the following advantages: (i) ensures efficient communication by enabling nodes to exchange quantized valued messages, and (ii) exhibits finite time convergence to the desired solution. We establish the correctness of our algorithm and we present necessary and sufficient topological conditions for it to successfully solve the quantized average consensus problem in an open dynamic multi-agent system. Finally, we illustrate the performance of our algorithm with numerical simulations.

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Distributed Optimization and Learning for Automated Stepsize Selection with Finite Time Coordination

Distributed optimization and learning algorithms are designed to operate over large scale networks enabling processing of vast amounts of data effectively and efficiently. One of the main challenges for ensuring a smooth learning process in gradient-based methods is the appropriate selection of a learning stepsize. Most current distributed approaches let individual nodes adapt their stepsizes locally. However, this may introduce stepsize heterogeneity in the network, thus disrupting the learning process and potentially leading to divergence. In this paper, we propose a distributed learning algorithm that incorporates a novel mechanism for automating stepsize selection among nodes. Our main idea relies on implementing a finite time coordination algorithm for eliminating stepsize heterogeneity among nodes. We analyze the operation of our algorithm and we establish its convergence to the optimal solution. We conclude our paper with numerical simulations for a linear regression problem, showcasing that eliminating stepsize heterogeneity enhances convergence speed and accuracy against current approaches.

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Beyond Line-of-Sight: Cooperative Localization Using Vision and V2X Communication

Accurate and robust localization is critical for the safe operation of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), especially in complex urban environments where Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are unreliable. This paper presents a novel vision-based cooperative localization algorithm that leverages onboard cameras and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication to enable CAVs to estimate their poses, even in occlusion-heavy scenarios such as busy intersections. In particular, we propose a novel decentralized observer for a group of connected agents that includes landmark agents (static or moving) in the environment with known positions and vehicle agents that need to estimate their poses (both positions and orientations). Assuming that (i) there are at least three landmark agents in the environment, (ii) each vehicle agent can measure its own angular and translational velocities as well as relative bearings to at least three neighboring landmarks or vehicles, and (iii) neighboring vehicles can communicate their pose estimates, each vehicle can estimate its own pose using the proposed decentralized observer. We prove that the origin of the estimation error is locally exponentially stable under the proposed observer, provided that the minimal observability conditions are satisfied. Moreover, we evaluate the proposed approach through experiments with real 1/10th-scale connected vehicles and large-scale simulations, demonstrating its scalability and validating the theoretical guarantees in practical scenarios.

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