Multipath TCP meets transfer learning: a novel edge-based learning for industrial IoT

We consider a fifth-generation (5G)-empowered future Industrial IoT (IIoT) networking problem where IIoT machines are capable of communicating and sharing their data networking knowledge gained (and experiences) with other neighboring devices/tools. For such an IIoT setting, deep-learning (DL)-based communication protocols are known to be highly efficient but having a computationally complex training procedure in terms of both time/space and volume of data sets. One solution for such training is to be completed offline for each equipment and machines of IIoT before deployment. A better approach would be to replicate the model from the expert existing machine and implant it into new machines. Such training for the transfer of knowledge can be done by manufacturers using high computational power, even for large-scale DL models. After sufficient training and the desired level of accuracy, the trained machines can be deployed in the smart factory equipment to perform life-long collaborative learning. We design a novel distributed transfer learning (TL) framework to maximize multipath communication networking performance for Industry 4.0 environment. To conduct seamless sharing of knowledge gain by the multipath TCP (MPTCP) agents and tackle retraining issues of DL-based approaches, we investigate TL for MPTCP from the IIoT networking perspective. With relevant insights from transfer and collaborative learning, we develop a distributed TL-MPTCP framework to accelerate the learning efficiency and enhance the performance of newly deployed machines. Our approach is validated with numerical and emulated NS-3 experiments in comparison with the state-of-the-art schemes.