Distributed Online Convex Optimization with Nonseparable Costs and Constraints

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Pan, Zhaoye, Lei, Haozhe, Zuo, Fan, Bian, Zilin, Li, Tao
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Pan, Zhaoye
Lei, Haozhe
Zuo, Fan
Bian, Zilin
Li, Tao
author_facet Pan, Zhaoye
Lei, Haozhe
Zuo, Fan
Bian, Zilin
Li, Tao
contents This paper studies distributed online convex optimization with time-varying coupled constraints, motivated by distributed online control in network systems. Most prior work assumes a separability condition: the global objective and coupled constraint functions are sums of local costs and individual constraints. In contrast, we study a group of agents, networked via a communication graph, that collectively select actions to minimize a sequence of nonseparable global cost functions and to satisfy nonseparable long-term constraints based on full-information feedback and intra-agent communication. We propose a distributed online primal-dual belief consensus algorithm, where each agent maintains and updates a local belief of the global collective decisions, which are repeatedly exchanged with neighboring agents. Unlike the previous consensus primal-dual algorithms under separability that ask agents to only communicate their local decisions, our belief-sharing protocol eliminates coupling between the primal consensus disagreement and the dual constraint violation, yielding sublinear regret and cumulative constraint violation (CCV) bounds, both in $O({T}^{1/2})$, where $T$ denotes the time horizon. Such a result breaks the long-standing $O(T^{3/4})$ barrier for CCV and matches the lower bound of online constrained convex optimization, indicating the online learning efficiency at the cost of communication overhead.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_10452
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Distributed Online Convex Optimization with Nonseparable Costs and Constraints
Pan, Zhaoye
Lei, Haozhe
Zuo, Fan
Bian, Zilin
Li, Tao
Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
This paper studies distributed online convex optimization with time-varying coupled constraints, motivated by distributed online control in network systems. Most prior work assumes a separability condition: the global objective and coupled constraint functions are sums of local costs and individual constraints. In contrast, we study a group of agents, networked via a communication graph, that collectively select actions to minimize a sequence of nonseparable global cost functions and to satisfy nonseparable long-term constraints based on full-information feedback and intra-agent communication. We propose a distributed online primal-dual belief consensus algorithm, where each agent maintains and updates a local belief of the global collective decisions, which are repeatedly exchanged with neighboring agents. Unlike the previous consensus primal-dual algorithms under separability that ask agents to only communicate their local decisions, our belief-sharing protocol eliminates coupling between the primal consensus disagreement and the dual constraint violation, yielding sublinear regret and cumulative constraint violation (CCV) bounds, both in $O({T}^{1/2})$, where $T$ denotes the time horizon. Such a result breaks the long-standing $O(T^{3/4})$ barrier for CCV and matches the lower bound of online constrained convex optimization, indicating the online learning efficiency at the cost of communication overhead.
title Distributed Online Convex Optimization with Nonseparable Costs and Constraints
topic Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10452