VFL processing method, apparatus and device

Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are VFL processing methods, an apparatus, and a device. A VFL processing method in an embodiment of the present application comprises: a first communication device sends first information to a second communication device, the first information being used for indicating at least one of the following: task identification information, indication information of searching out a training device, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information, and the training device being a communication device participating in VFL.

Description

VFL processing method, device and equipment

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410403796.9 filed in China on April 3, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a vertical federated learning (VFL) processing method, apparatus, and device. Background Art

[0004] When performing VFL, communication devices often need to exchange information. In related technologies, what is transmitted between communication devices is the permanent or fixed identification of the communication devices, which makes the information of the communication devices easily exposed, resulting in poor security of the communication devices. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a VFL processing method, apparatus, and device, which can solve the problem of low security of communication equipment.

[0006] In a first aspect, a VFL processing method is provided, comprising:

[0007] The first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0008] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0009] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0010] In a second aspect, a VFL processing method is provided, comprising:

[0011] A second communication device receives first information sent by the first communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0012] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0013] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0014] In a third aspect, a VFL processing method is provided, comprising:

[0015] The training device performs a VFL operation, wherein the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL;

[0016] The VFL operation includes the following:

[0017] receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample;

[0018] receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device;

[0019] Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device;

[0020] The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

[0021] In a fourth aspect, a VFL processing method is provided, comprising:

[0022] third information sent by the fourth communication device to the first communication device, wherein the third information includes information of the training device;

[0023] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0024] In a fifth aspect, a VFL processing device is provided, comprising:

[0025] The first sending module is configured to send first information to the second communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0026] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0027] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0028] In a sixth aspect, a VFL processing device is provided, comprising:

[0029] The first receiving module is configured to receive first information sent by the first communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0030] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0031] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0032] In a seventh aspect, a VFL processing device is provided, comprising:

[0033] An execution module, configured to execute a VFL operation, wherein the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL;

[0034] The VFL operation includes the following:

[0035] receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample;

[0036] receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device;

[0037] Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device;

[0038] The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

[0039] In an eighth aspect, a VFL processing device is provided, comprising:

[0040] a sending module, configured to send third information to the first communication device, wherein the third information includes information of the training device;

[0041] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0042] In the ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method on the first communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0043] In the tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to send first information to a second communication device, the first information being used to indicate at least one of the following: task identification information, indication information of finding a training device, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information; the training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0044] In the eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method on the second communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0045] In the twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive first information sent by the first communication device, and the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: task identification information, indication information of finding a training device, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information; the training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0046] In the thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method on the training device side provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0047] In the fourteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to perform a VFL operation, and the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL; wherein the VFL operation includes one of the following items: receiving fourth information sent by a first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, the fourth information being used to request acquisition of training samples; receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device; sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device; and sending a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device to the first communication device.

[0048] In the fifteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method on the fourth communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0049] In the sixteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to send third information to a first communication device, the third information comprising information of the training device; the training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0050] In the seventeenth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the VFL processing method on the first communication device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented, or the steps of the VFL processing method on the second communication device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented, or the steps of the VFL processing method on the first training device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented, or the steps of the VFL processing method on the fourth communication device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0051] In the eighteenth aspect, a wireless communication system is provided, comprising: a first communication device, a second communication device and a training device, or comprising: a first communication device, a second communication device, a training device and a fourth communication device; wherein, the first communication device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the first communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, the second communication device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the second communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, the training device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the training device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, and the fourth communication device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the fourth communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0052] In the nineteenth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor, the processor being used to run a program or instruction to implement the VFL processing method on the first communication device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application, or to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the second communication device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application, or to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the training device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application, or to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the fourth communication device side as provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0053] In the twentieth aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, which is stored in a storage medium, and the computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the first communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, or the computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the second communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, or the computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the training device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, or the computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the VFL processing method on the fourth communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present application, the first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following: task identification information, information indicating that a training device has been found, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information; the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL. By transmitting at least one of the task identification information, information indicating that a training device has been found, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information, the risk of information exposure of the communication device can be reduced, thereby improving the security of the communication device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0055] FIG1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present application may be applied;

[0056] FIG2 is a flow chart of a VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG3 is a flow chart of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG4 is a flow chart of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG5 is a flowchart of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG12 is a structural diagram of a VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG13 is a structural diagram of another VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG14 is a structural diagram of another VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG15 is a structural diagram of another VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG16 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG17 is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 18 is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0074] The terms "first", "second", etc. in this application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type, and do not limit the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in this application represents at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three options, namely, Option 1: including A but not including B; Option 2: including B but not including A; Option 3: including both A and B. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0075] The term "indication" in this application can be either a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). A direct indication can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, the operation to be performed, or the requested result, etc. in the instruction sent; an indirect indication can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information based on the instruction sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the operation to be performed or the requested result, etc. based on the judgment result.

[0076] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the technology described can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as for other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for illustrative purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th generation (6G) systems. th Generation, 6G) communication system.

[0077] FIG1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12 . Among them, the terminal 11 can be a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet first communication device, MID), an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device, a robot, a wearable device (Wearable first communication device), an aircraft (flight vehicle), a vehicle user equipment (VUE), a shipborne device, a pedestrian user equipment (PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication functions, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines or furniture, etc.), a game console, a personal computer (PC), a teller machine, a self-service machine, an Internet of Things (IoT) device or an ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) device. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart headphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle-mounted device can also be called a vehicle-mounted terminal, vehicle-mounted controller, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0078] The network-side device 12 may include an access network device or a core network device, wherein the access network device may also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device, a radio access network function, or a radio access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) node. Among them, the base station can be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), the next generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), access point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), Home Node B (HNB), Home Evolved Node B (home evolved Node B), Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or other appropriate terms in the field. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is used as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0079] The core network equipment may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: core network node, core network function, mobility management entity (MME), access mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), user plane function (UPF), policy control function (PCF), policy and charging rules function unit (PCRF), edge application server discovery function (EASDF), unified data management (UDM), unified data repository (UDR), home user server (HSS), centralized network configuration (CNC), network storage function (NRF), network exposure function (NEF), local NEF (L-NEF), binding support function (BSF), authentication service function (Authentication Server Function, AUSF), application function (AF), etc. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, only the core network device in the NR system is introduced as an example, and the specific type of the core network device is not limited.

[0080] The essence of VFL is feature federation. It is suitable for scenarios with high user overlap but low feature overlap. For example, within a communication network, the CN and RAN domains serve the same user (e.g., terminal, i.e., the same sample) but with different services (i.e., different features). By combining the different data features of the common samples of the participating parties, vertical federation increases the feature dimensionality of the training samples and produces a better model.

[0081] One of the characteristics of VFL is the scenario where users overlap but features differ. Therefore, two or more parties performing VFL training / inference need to have overlapping users, that is, the same sample data.

[0082] In the following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, a VFL processing method, apparatus, and device provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail through some embodiments and their application scenarios.

[0083] Please refer to FIG2 , which is a flow chart of a VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG2 , the method includes the following steps:

[0084] Step 201: The first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0085] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0086] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0087] The first information may be information sent via one or more messages, or may be sent simultaneously with other information.

[0088] The information in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a message or signaling.

[0089] The first communication device may be a core network device, such as an NEF or other core network device, such as a UDM, or may be a communication device capable of providing exposed core network internal services to the communication device. The first communication device may also be an enhanced NEF, or a communication device specifically configured to handle interactions between external communication devices and internal communication devices (such as VFL-related operations).

[0090] The second communication device may be an AF or a third-party server, etc. The second communication device may also be a communication device participating in the VFL.

[0091] The training device may be determined by the first communication device, or determined by the first communication device through searching other communication devices.

[0092] The above-mentioned training device can be a core network device or an access network device. For example, the training device can be a network data analysis function (NWDAF), or a model training logical function (MTLF) or an analysis logical function (AnLF).

[0093] Alternatively, the training device may be a communication device with VFL-related capabilities, such as a communication device with VFL training capabilities, VFL participant capabilities, and the like.

[0094] In some embodiments, the aforementioned training device may also be referred to as VFL-related equipment.

[0095] The task identification information is identification information related to a VFL task, and is used to indicate at least one VFL task, that is, a VFL-related data analysis task.

[0096] In some implementations, the task identification information may also be task-related identification information, or VFL task-related identification, or VFL task association identification.

[0097] In some implementations, the task identification information may be used to associate a VFL training model with a VFL task, and the second communication device or the training device may determine the corresponding model through the task identification information.

[0098] In some implementations, the task identification information may be assigned by the first communication device, or the task identification information may be assigned by the second communication device.

[0099] In some embodiments, the information of the communication devices participating in the VFL task can be associated through the above-mentioned task identification information, such as associating the information of the second communication device with the information of the training device, and the first communication device can determine the above-mentioned second communication device or training device through the task identification information; it can also be that the relevant information of the VFL task is associated with the second communication device or training device, etc.; it can also be that the relevant messages of the VFL task are associated with the VFL task through the task identification information, such as when transmitting the relevant messages of the VFL task, the second communication device or training device can also determine the specific VFL task through the task identification information, wherein the relevant messages of the above-mentioned VFL task can be VFL-related feedback messages or request messages, etc., such as VFL-related communication device search, sample alignment, VFL training, VFL reasoning, etc.

[0100] The indication information of finding the training device is used to indicate that the first communication device has found the training device.

[0101] In some implementations, the temporary identification information of the training device may also be hidden identification information or anonymous identification information of the training device. Optionally, the temporary identification information of the training device may be identification information with an effective time within a certain time range, which may be a time range determined by a protocol agreement, a network-side device configuration, or the first communication device.

[0102] In some implementations, the temporary identification information can hide information about the communication device, thereby preventing the network topology and other information from being known, thereby protecting privacy information.

[0103] In some implementations, the temporary identification information may be known by the first communication device as corresponding real identification information.

[0104] In some implementations, the second communication device may interact with the target training device based on the temporary identification information and the first communication device.

[0105] The temporary identification information of the above-mentioned training device can hide the identification information of the training device (such as the real identification, permanent identification or fixed identification), such as hiding the instance identification (instance ID), fully qualified domain name (FQDN), IP address and other information of the training device.

[0106] The above-mentioned VFL task information is used to represent relevant information of the VFL task, such as filter information, type information, etc.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, the first information may explicitly or implicitly indicate at least one of the following: task identification information, information indicating that a training device has been found, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information. For example, if the first information does not include information indicating that a training device has been found, the task identification information or VFL task information may be used to implicitly indicate that a training device has been found, thereby saving information overhead.

[0108] In an embodiment of the present application, due to at least one of the task identification information, the indication information of finding the training device, the temporary identification information of the training device, and the VFL task information being sent, the risk of information exposure of the communication device can be reduced to improve the security of the communication device. For example, sending the above-mentioned task identification information or VLF task information can achieve the goal of not sending any relevant information of the training device, while sending the above-mentioned indication information of finding the training device can achieve the goal of only informing the second communication device that the first communication device has found the training device, and sending the above-mentioned temporary identification information of the training device can hide the true identification of the training device.

[0109] As an optional implementation manner, before the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the method further includes:

[0110] The first communication device receives second information from the second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0111] In this implementation, it is possible to trigger a search for a communication device related to the VFL based on the second information sent by the second communication device.

[0112] In the embodiment of the present application, it is not limited to triggering the search for VFL-related communication devices based on the second information sent by the second communication device. In some implementations, the search for VFL-related communication devices may also be triggered based on information sent by other communication devices (such as the fourth communication device).

[0113] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0114] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0115] The communication device search request indication information may instruct the first communication device to assist in performing a communication device search operation, or instruct the first communication device to execute a communication device search request. It should be noted that the communication device search request may also be a request to obtain communication device information that meets a requirement, or instruct the first communication device to provide feedback on communication device information that meets a requirement. The requirement may be filtering information for the communication device search.

[0116] It should be noted that, when the above-mentioned second information does not include the request indication information for the communication device search, the request for the communication device search can be implicitly indicated through at least one of the above-mentioned task identification information, the filtering information for the communication device search, the VFL task information, and the interoperation indication information, or, when the above-mentioned second information does not include the task identification information, the filtering information for the communication device search, the VFL task information, and the interoperation indication information, the request for the communication device search can be implicitly indicated through the above-mentioned message carrying the second information.

[0117] The filtering information for the communication device search may indicate the conditions that the communication device to be searched must meet, the communication device type information, the communication device capability information or the capability information related to VFL, etc.

[0118] The VFL task information and the VFL task information indicated in the first information may be the same task information, or the VFL task information indicated in the first information may be a subset of the VFL task information in the second information.

[0119] The interoperability indication information may indicate an interoperability indication identifier of the second communication device, such as vendor identification information (Vendor ID). The interoperability indication information may help the first communication device determine which communication devices can interoperate with the second communication device, such as transfer models, transfer information, joint model training, etc.

[0120] In some implementations, the interoperability indication information may refer to interoperability with the communication device corresponding to the indication information, such as model transmission, information transmission, joint model training, etc.

[0121] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned interoperability indication information may refer to VFL-related interoperability that can be performed with the communication device corresponding to the indication information, such as participating in sample alignment, VFL model training, VFL reasoning, model transmission, information transmission, joint model training, etc.

[0122] The above-mentioned VFL-related capability information may refer to indication information of supporting VFL capabilities, indicating that VFL-related operations can be performed, such as organizing or participating in VFL, performing VFL sample alignment, transmitting VFL-related data or intermediate results, etc.; VFL capability information, VFL participant capabilities, VFL member capabilities, VFL organizer capabilities, VFL server capabilities, etc.; VFL task types, VFL objects, etc.

[0123] Through the above-mentioned task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information, the first communication device can find a more suitable training device, thereby improving the VFL effect.

[0124] As an optional implementation manner, before the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the method further includes:

[0125] The first communication device converts the identification information of the training device into the temporary identification information.

[0126] The identification information of the above-mentioned training device can be the real identification, actual identification, permanent identification or fixed identification of the training device, such as instance identification (instance ID), FQDN, Internet Protocol (IP) address and other information.

[0127] The conversion of the identification information of the training device into the temporary identification information may be performed by anonymizing or hiding the identification information of the training device to obtain the temporary identification information. For example, the temporary identification information may be information such as the number or index of the training device, specifically training device 1 and training device 2.

[0128] The identification information of the training device can be hidden through the above conversion.

[0129] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned conversion may also be understood as generating temporary identification information, and the process of generating the temporary identification information may not be associated with the identification information of the above-mentioned training device.

[0130] As an optional implementation manner, before the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the method further includes:

[0131] The first communication device determines a training device for the VFL.

[0132] The training device for determining the VFL may be determined by the first communication device itself, or may be searched through other communication devices.

[0133] In some embodiments, the first communication device determining the training device for the VFL includes:

[0134] The first communication device searches for a training device of the VFL through a third communication device; or

[0135] The first communication device receives third information sent by the fourth communication device, where the third information includes information of the training device.

[0136] The third communication device may be a device with a storage function, such as an NRF.

[0137] The training device that searches for the VFL through the third communication device may send a search request to the NRF, and the search response sent by the NRF includes information about the training device.

[0138] The fourth communication device mentioned above may be a core network communication device, such as NEF.

[0139] The information of the training device included in the above-mentioned third information may be the information of the training device obtained by the fourth communication device. For example, when the fourth communication device receives the information sent by the above-mentioned second communication device requesting to execute the VFL-related communication device search, the fourth communication device searches for the training device and then sends the information of the training device to the first communication device.

[0140] The information of the fourth communication device may be identification information of the fourth communication device, device information of the fourth communication device, or network element information.

[0141] In some embodiments, the third information further includes at least one of the following:

[0142] Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

[0143] The above-mentioned VFL task information and the VFL task information indicated in the above-mentioned first information may be the same task information, or the VFL task information indicated in the above-mentioned first information may be a subset of the VFL task information in the above-mentioned third information, or the VFL task information in the above-mentioned third information may be a subset of the VFL task information in the above-mentioned first information.

[0144] The above-mentioned VFL related operations may include communication device search, sample alignment, VFL training and other operations.

[0145] The communication device search may refer to a training device search, that is, searching for a training communication device, searching for a communication device that can participate in VFL training, and the like.

[0146] In this embodiment, the fourth communication device can request the first communication device to perform VFL-related operations to improve the flexibility of the VFL. For example, after the fourth communication device receives the VFL request message, due to load and other reasons, the VFL request message is redirected (forwarded) to the first communication device, that is, the above-mentioned third information is sent to the first communication device.

[0147] As an optional implementation manner, the task identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0148] task identification information determined by the first communication device;

[0149] The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

[0150] In this implementation, the task identification information can be determined by the first communication device or allocated by the second communication device, thereby improving the flexibility of the VFL task.

[0151] It should be noted that the above allocation can also be a determination or setting meaning, which are similar in meaning and can be replaced with each other.

[0152] As an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0153] The first communication device sends fourth information to the second communication device or the training device, where the fourth information is used to request to obtain a training sample;

[0154] The first communication device receives training sample information sent by the second communication device or the training device.

[0155] The aforementioned acquiring of the training sample may be acquiring identification information of the training sample, that is, acquiring identity document (ID) information of the sample.

[0156] The training sample information sent by the second communication device or the training device may be identification information of the training sample.

[0157] In some implementations, the fourth information may include at least one of the following:

[0158] Instruction information for requesting to obtain sample information, used to indicate a request to obtain training sample information;

[0159] Training sample identification information;

[0160] Task identification information;

[0161] VFL task information.

[0162] In some implementations, the identification information of the training samples is identification information of samples that can be used for the VFL task.

[0163] In some implementations, for the fourth information sent by the second communication device, the fourth information and the first information may be carried in the same message or in different messages.

[0164] It should be noted that in an embodiment of the present application, multiple information sent by the second communication device to the first communication device can be carried in the same message or in different messages, multiple information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device can be carried in the same message or in different messages, multiple information sent by the first communication device to the training device can be carried in the same message or in different messages, and multiple information sent by the training device to the first communication device can be carried in the same message or in different messages.

[0165] In this implementation, since the training sample information is sent by the first communication device, the second communication device or the training device, sample alignment can be performed by the first communication device, the second communication device or the training device, thereby improving the flexibility of sample alignment.

[0166] As an optional embodiment, the method further includes at least one of the following:

[0167] The first communication device determines sample alignment, or the first communication device receives fifth information sent by the second communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment;

[0168] The first communication device determines VFL training, or the first communication device receives sixth information sent by the second communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

[0169] In this embodiment, sample alignment can be determined by the first communication device or by the second communication device, and VFL training can be determined by the first communication device or by the second communication device, thereby improving the flexibility of VFL training.

[0170] Optionally, the fifth information carries at least one of the following:

[0171] Task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, and VFL task information;

[0172] or,

[0173] The sixth information carries at least one of the following:

[0174] The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

[0175] The training sample information can be associated with the task identification information and the VFL task information through the task identification information and the VFL task information in the fifth information.

[0176] The above-mentioned training sample information may be training sample information of the second communication device.

[0177] The instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information is used to indicate a request to obtain training samples, which may be a request to obtain sample information of a training device, or a request to obtain sample information of a training device corresponding to temporary identification information of the training device.

[0178] In some implementations, the second communication device may acquire sample information from the training device, so that the second communication device can complete sample alignment by itself, that is, determine sample information shared by the second communication device and the training device.

[0179] The instruction information for requesting sample alignment is used to indicate a request to perform a sample alignment operation, or to assist in performing a sample alignment operation. Optionally, the second communication device requests the first communication device to perform a sample alignment operation, i.e., requests the first communication device to obtain sample information of the second communication device or the training device, and to determine sample information shared by the second communication device and the training device, i.e., aligned sample information, or the intersection of sample information of the second communication device and the training device.

[0180] Since the fifth information includes the training sample information, the first communication device may not send the fourth information to the second communication device, thereby saving transmission overhead.

[0181] The instruction information for requesting to obtain the training sample information can be used to enable the first communication device to send the training sample to the second communication device, and the second communication device to perform sample alignment.

[0182] The VFL training can be associated with the task identification information and the VFL task information through the above-mentioned task identification information and the VFL task information in the sixth information.

[0183] The VFL training instruction information is used to indicate an operation requesting VFL training or assisting in VFL training. Optionally, the operation requesting the first communication device to perform VFL training instructs the first communication device to trigger a VFL training process, such as the first communication device sending an instruction to start VFL training or a corresponding message to a training device.

[0184] VFL training can be carried out with the corresponding training device through the temporary identification information of the training device.

[0185] VFL training filter information can refer to VFL training limiting information, such as training time, number of training rounds, and training sample information. Training time refers to the duration of VFL training. Training rounds can refer to the number of VFL training rounds. Training can be terminated when the training time or number of training rounds is reached.

[0186] The training sample information refers to the sample information used for training, such as the sample identification information used for training.

[0187] It should be noted that the training sample information may refer to sample information to be used in one round of training, or may refer to sample information to be used in the entire training process.

[0188] As an optional embodiment, the method further includes at least one of the following:

[0189] The first communication device sends the training sample information of the training device to the second communication device;

[0190] The first communication device sends the training sample information of the second communication device to the training device.

[0191] In this implementation, sending the training sample information of the training device to the second communication device can enable the second communication device to perform sample alignment, and sending the training sample information of the second communication device to the training device can enable the second communication device to perform sample alignment.

[0192] In some implementations, when sending the training sample information, the first communication device may carry at least one of the following:

[0193] Training sample information of training equipment;

[0194] training sample information of the second communication device;

[0195] Task identification information;

[0196] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0197] VFL task information, etc.

[0198] In some implementations, the training sample information may be carried in other information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device or the training device.

[0199] As an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0200] The first communication device determines aligned training sample information;

[0201] The first communication device sends the aligned training sample information to the second communication device or the training device.

[0202] The above-mentioned determination of the aligned training samples can be based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device or the training device to determine the aligned training sample information. For example, the above-mentioned determination of the aligned training sample information can be to merge the sample information sent by the second communication device and the training device to determine the common sample information, that is, the intersection between the sample information sent by the second communication device and the training device, and the sample information shared by the second communication device and the training device.

[0203] It should be noted that the aligned training samples may also be called public samples, common samples, aligned samples, etc. The aligned training sample identification information may also be public sample identification information, common sample identification information, aligned sample identification information, etc.

[0204] When sending the aligned training sample information to the second communication device or the training device, corresponding task identification information or VFL task information may also be sent.

[0205] In some implementations, the first communication device may carry at least one of the following when providing aligned training sample information:

[0206] Aligned training sample information;

[0207] Task identification information;

[0208] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0209] VFL task information, etc.

[0210] In some implementations, the aligned training sample information may be carried in other information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device or the training device.

[0211] The aligned training sample information may enable the second communication device or the training device to use the aligned samples for VFL training, thereby improving the VFL effect.

[0212] As an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0213] The first communication device sends seventh information to the second communication device or the training device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

[0214] In this embodiment, the first communication device can request the second communication device or the training device to perform VFL training. Since the first communication device sends the seventh information to the training device, the information of the training device can be better protected.

[0215] In some implementations, the second communication device may request to perform VFL training. For example, the second communication device determines to perform VFL training based on internal logic / preset conditions and initiates the request.

[0216] The seventh information may include at least one of the following:

[0217] Training sample information for training (also referred to as training sample information for executing training, or training sample information, or sample information used for training);

[0218] Task identification information;

[0219] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0220] Request instructions for VFL training.

[0221] As an optional embodiment, the method further includes at least one of the following:

[0222] The first communication device sends first feedback information to the second communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device;

[0223] The first communication device sends second feedback information to the training device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device;

[0224] The first communication device sends third feedback information to the training device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device;

[0225] The first communication device sends fourth feedback information to the second communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

[0226] Among them, the intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the above-mentioned training device can be the model output result obtained by the training device performing local training based on VFL task information, local data and local model.

[0227] The intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device may be a model output result obtained by the second communication device performing local training based on the VFL task information, local data, and local model.

[0228] The first loss value may be a loss value determined by the second communication device based on the intermediate result.

[0229] The above-mentioned first gradient value can be a gradient value of an intermediate result generated by reverse deduction by the second communication device based on the first loss value.

[0230] The second loss value may be a loss value determined by the training device based on the intermediate result.

[0231] The above-mentioned second gradient value can be the gradient value of the intermediate result generated by reverse deduction by the training device based on the second loss value.

[0232] It should be noted that the above-mentioned loss value or gradient value can be information used to update the model, that is, the second communication device / training device can update the local model based on this information.

[0233] Through the above implementation, it is possible to transmit intermediate results, loss values ​​or gradient values ​​from the first communication device to the second communication device and the training device, which can better protect the information of the training device.

[0234] The first feedback information is used to provide feedback information on the intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device. The first feedback information carries the intermediate result of the VFL training.

[0235] In some embodiments, the first feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0236] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result which is the intermediate result of the training device, VFL task information, the intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device, and the training sample information.

[0237] Among them, the intermediate results of the VFL training performed by the training device are used to represent the intermediate result information, that is, the intermediate result information determined by the training device based on local data and the local model, such as the output result of the local model.

[0238] The training sample information refers to the sample information used for training, such as the sample identification information used for training.

[0239] It should be noted that the training sample information may refer to sample information to be used in one round of training, or may refer to sample information to be used in the entire training process.

[0240] In this implementation, it is possible to associate the intermediate result of the training device with the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, or the VFL task information, thereby hiding the identification information of the training device.

[0241] It should be noted that, in some implementations, when the first feedback information does not carry indication information for indicating that the intermediate result carried by the first feedback information is the intermediate result of the training device, it is assumed that the intermediate result carried by the first feedback information is the intermediate result of the training device.

[0242] The second feedback information is used to feed back feedback information of an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device.

[0243] In some embodiments, the second feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0244] an intermediate result of VFL training performed by the second communication device;

[0245] The task identification information;

[0246] used to indicate that the second feedback information carries indication information that the intermediate result is the intermediate result of the second communication device;

[0247] VFL task information;

[0248] an intermediate result of VFL training performed by the second communication device;

[0249] Training sample information.

[0250] The third feedback information is used to feed back feedback information of the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device.

[0251] In some implementations, the third feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0252] First loss value;

[0253] First gradient value

[0254] The task identification information;

[0255] indication information used to indicate that the third feedback information carries a first loss value or a first gradient value, and a loss value or a gradient value of the second communication device;

[0256] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0257] VFL task information.

[0258] The fourth feedback information is used to feed back feedback information of the second loss value or the second gradient value, and the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value.

[0259] In some implementations, the fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0260] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

[0261] In this implementation, the second loss value or the second gradient value can be associated with the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, or the VFL task information, thereby hiding the identification information of the training device.

[0262] It should be noted that, in some embodiments, when the fourth feedback information is not used to indicate that the first feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, the second loss value or the second gradient value carried by the fourth feedback information is defaulted to be the loss value or the gradient value of the training device.

[0263] In some embodiments, the first communication device receives the intermediate result of the VFL training sent by the training device. The intermediate result of the VFL training sent by the training device may further carry at least one of the following:

[0264] Task identification information;

[0265] VFL task information;

[0266] Training sample information.

[0267] In some embodiments, when the first communication device receives the intermediate result of the VFL training sent by the second communication device, the intermediate result of the VFL training sent by the second communication device may further carry at least one of the following:

[0268] Task identification information;

[0269] VFL task information;

[0270] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0271] Training sample information.

[0272] In some embodiments, the first communication device receives the second loss value or second gradient value of the VFL training sent by the training device. When the second loss value or second gradient value of the VFL training sent by the training device is received, it may further carry at least one of the following:

[0273] Task identification information;

[0274] VFL task information;

[0275] Training sample information.

[0276] In some embodiments, when the first communication device receives the intermediate result of the VFL training sent by the second communication device, the first loss value or the first gradient value of the VFL training sent by the second communication device may further carry at least one of the following:

[0277] Task identification information;

[0278] VFL task information;

[0279] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0280] Training sample information.

[0281] As an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0282] Before the first communication device sends the first feedback information to the second communication device, the first communication device receives an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device from the training device;

[0283] Before the first communication device sends the second feedback information to the training device, the first communication device receives an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device from the second communication device;

[0284] Before the first communication device sends the third feedback information to the training device, the first communication device receives a first loss value or a first gradient value determined by the second communication device from the second device;

[0285] Before the first communication device sends the fourth feedback information to the second communication device, the first communication device receives a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device from the training device.

[0286] As an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0287] The first communication device receives eighth information sent by the second communication device or the training device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0288] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, the VFL task information, and inference sample information.

[0289] The above-mentioned eighth information can be used to request VFL reasoning, and through at least one of the above-mentioned task identification information, temporary identification information of the training device, identification information of the second communication device, and VFL task information, it can be requested to perform a specific VFL reasoning task on the corresponding communication device.

[0290] The inference sample information refers to the sample information used for inference, such as the sample identification information used for inference.

[0291] It should be noted that the sample information for inference may refer to the sample information to be used in this inference.

[0292] The instruction information for instructing to perform VFL inference may indicate that the training device or the second communication device performs VFL inference.

[0293] The eighth information sent by the second communication device may carry the temporary identification information of the training device, and the eighth information sent by the training device may carry the identification information of the second communication device to instruct the corresponding communication device to perform VFL inference.

[0294] In some implementations, the eighth information may further include at least one of the following:

[0295] Intermediate results;

[0296] Training sample information;

[0297] Sample information for inference.

[0298] The first communication device receives the eighth information and sends an inference request to the second communication device or training device associated with the VFL task, and the second communication device or training device associated with the VFL task performs VFL inference.

[0299] The first communication device sends an inference request to the second communication device or the training device, and the second communication device or the training device performs VFL inference. Afterwards, the second communication device or the training device sends inference result information to the first communication device.

[0300] When the second communication device sends the inference result information to the first communication device, it may also carry at least one of the following:

[0301] Task identification information;

[0302] VFL task information;

[0303] Temporary identification information of training equipment;

[0304] Training sample information.

[0305] When the training device sends the inference result information to the first communication device, it may also carry at least one of the following:

[0306] Task identification information;

[0307] VFL task information;

[0308] Training sample information.

[0309] In some implementations, the VFL capability may be used to indicate the communication device that performs inference, such as indicating a VFL server, a VFL client, and the like.

[0310] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0311] The first communication device sends inference result information to the second communication device or the training device.

[0312] When sending the above inference result information, at least one of the following items may also be included:

[0313] Task identification information;

[0314] VFL task information;

[0315] Temporary identification information of the training device.

[0316] The first communication device sends inference result information obtained by the training device through VFL inference to the second communication device.

[0317] The first communication device sends the inference result information obtained by the second communication device through VFL inference to the training device.

[0318] It should be noted that the inference result information obtained by the above-mentioned training device performing VFL reasoning and the inference result information obtained by the second communication device performing VFL reasoning may refer to the intermediate inference results obtained by the training device and the second communication device performing local reasoning, or the intermediate results corresponding to the reasoning, etc.

[0319] In this implementation, since the inference result information is transmitted through the first communication device, the information of the training device can be better protected.

[0320] As an optional implementation manner, the VFL task information includes at least one of the following:

[0321] Filter information for VFL training,

[0322] VFL task type identification information,

[0323] Filter information for VFL tasks.

[0324] The filtering information of the VFL training may indicate the requirement information of the VFL training, such as the time of the VFL training, the area of ​​the VFL training, etc., so as to improve the accuracy of the VFL training.

[0325] The filtering information of the VFL task may be fixed time, location or slice information to limit the time, location or slice for executing the VFL task, so as to improve the accuracy of the VFL task.

[0326] In an embodiment of the present application, the first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following: task identification information, information indicating that a training device has been found, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information; the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL. By transmitting at least one of the task identification information, information indicating that a training device has been found, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information, the risk of information exposure of the communication device can be reduced, thereby improving the security of the communication device.

[0327] Please refer to FIG3 , which is a flow chart of a VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the method includes the following steps:

[0328] Step 301: A second communication device receives first information sent by the first communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0329] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0330] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0331] Optionally, before the second communication device receives the first information sent by the first communication device, the method further includes:

[0332] The second communication device sends second information to the first communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0333] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0334] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0335] Optionally, the task identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0336] task identification information determined by the first communication device;

[0337] The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

[0338] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0339] The second communication device receives fourth information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request to obtain a training sample;

[0340] The second communication device sends training sample information to the first communication device.

[0341] Optionally, before the second communication device receives the fourth information sent by the first communication device, the method further includes:

[0342] The second communication device sends fifth information to the first communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment;

[0343] The second communication device sends sixth information to the first communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

[0344] Optionally, the fifth information carries at least one of the following:

[0345] The task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, and VFL task information;

[0346] or,

[0347] The sixth information carries at least one of the following:

[0348] The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

[0349] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0350] The second communication device receives the training sample information of the training device sent by the first communication device;

[0351] The second communication device determines aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the training device.

[0352] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0353] The second communication device sends the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

[0354] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0355] The second communication device receives seventh information sent by the first communication device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

[0356] Optionally, the method further comprises at least one of the following:

[0357] The second communication device receives first feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device;

[0358] The second communication device sends, to the first communication device, an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device;

[0359] The second communication device sends a first loss value or a first gradient value to the first communication device, where the first loss value or the first gradient value is the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device;

[0360] The second communication device receives fourth feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

[0361] Optionally, the first feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0362] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result that is an intermediate result of the training device, and the VFL task information; or

[0363] The fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0364] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

[0365] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0366] The second communication device sends eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0367] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0368] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0369] The second communication device receives the inference result information sent by the first communication device.

[0370] Optionally, the VFL task information includes at least one of the following:

[0371] Filter information for VFL training,

[0372] VFL task type identification information,

[0373] Filter information for VFL tasks.

[0374] It should be noted that this embodiment is an implementation of the second communication device corresponding to the embodiment shown in Figure 2. Its specific implementation can refer to the relevant description of the embodiment shown in Figure 2. In order to avoid repeated description, this embodiment will not be repeated.

[0375] Please refer to FIG4 , which is a flow chart of a VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the method includes the following steps:

[0376] Step 401: A training device performs a VFL operation, where the training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0377] The VFL operation includes the following:

[0378] receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample;

[0379] receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device;

[0380] Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device;

[0381] The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

[0382] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0383] The training device sends the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

[0384] Optionally, the method further comprises at least one of the following:

[0385] The training device receives second feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the first communication device;

[0386] The training device receives third feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device.

[0387] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0388] The training device sends eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0389] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0390] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0391] The training device receives the inference result information sent by the first communication device.

[0392] It should be noted that this embodiment is an implementation of the training device corresponding to the embodiment shown in Figure 2. Its specific implementation can refer to the relevant description of the embodiment shown in Figure 2. In order to avoid repeated description, this embodiment will not be repeated.

[0393] Please refer to FIG5 , which is a flowchart of a VFL processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the method includes the following steps:

[0394] Step 501: The fourth communication device sends third information to the first communication device, where the third information includes information about the training device.

[0395] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0396] Optionally, the third information further includes at least one of the following:

[0397] Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

[0398] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0399] The fourth communication device receives second information sent by the second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0400] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0401] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0402] It should be noted that this embodiment is an implementation of the fourth communication device corresponding to the embodiment shown in Figure 2. Its specific implementation can refer to the relevant description of the embodiment shown in Figure 2. In order to avoid repeated description, this embodiment will not be repeated.

[0403] The method provided in the embodiments of the present application is illustrated below through multiple embodiments. In the following multiple embodiments, the first communication device (such as NEF) represents a network-exposed communication device in the network, that is, a communication device that provides exposed core network internal services to (external) communication devices; it can also be other communication devices with similar functions; the second communication device (such as AF) represents a communication device outside the core network, such as a third-party server, etc.; the training device (such as NWDAF) represents a communication device with VFL-related capabilities in the core network, such as a communication device with VFL training capabilities, VFL participant capabilities, etc., and can also be a model training logical function (MTLF) or an analysis logical function (AnLF), etc.

[0404] Example 1:

[0405] As shown in FIG6 , this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0406] Step 1. The second communication device sends a request message to the first communication device, requesting to perform VFL-related operations. For example, the second communication device determines based on internal logic that VFL training and other operations are required, and needs to perform VFL training and other operations with the communication device inside the core network. The second communication device sends a request message to the first communication device, requesting the first communication device to help perform VFL-related operations, such as communication device search, sample alignment, VFL training and other operations; it should be noted that the message can be sent through a request message (request) or a subscription message (subscribe message). Specifically, the second communication device can send at least one of the following to the first communication device:

[0407] Task identification information (Task ID) is used to indicate identification information related to a VFL task. This identification information can be used to associate information about communication devices participating in the VFL task, such as associating information about a second communication device with information about a training device. The first communication device can use this identification information to determine the second communication device or training device (also referred to as a training entity). This identification information can also be used to associate a service message with a VFL task. For example, when transmitting a service message, the second communication device or training device can use this information to determine a specific VFL task. The service message can include VFL-related messages transmitted between communication devices.

[0408] Instruction information requesting execution of VFL-related operations, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in executing VFL-related operations, such as communication device search (searching for communication device entities participating in the VFL), sample alignment, VFL training, etc.;

[0409] Instruction information of the communication device search request, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in performing the communication device search operation;

[0410] The filtering information searched by the communication device is used to indicate the conditions that the target communication device must meet;

[0411] Communication device type information, communication device capability information, VFL-related capability information, etc.

[0412] Sample alignment instruction information, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in performing a sample alignment operation;

[0413] Sample ID information, used to indicate the sample ID owned by the second communication device, which can facilitate subsequent operations such as sample alignment;

[0414] VFL training instruction information, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in performing an operation of organizing VFL training;

[0415] VFL training filtering information is used to indicate VFL training requirement information, such as VFL training time and area;

[0416] VFL task type identification information, used to indicate the specific VFL task category and analysis (analytics) ID, such as OSE;

[0417] VFL task filter information, such as time, location, and slice restrictions;

[0418] Interoperability indication information, used to indicate the interoperability indication identifier of the communication device, such as the Vendor ID, etc.; to help the network determine which communication devices can interoperate with the communication device (such as transferring models, transferring information, joint model training, etc.);

[0419] Step 2. The first communication device searches for the training device. For example, after receiving the request message from the second communication device, the first communication device determines that it needs to search for the training device, and may determine the training device by interacting with the NRF or based on its own information. Specifically, the first communication device receives the VFL indication information in the request message from the second communication device, determines that it needs to perform VFL-related operations, and determines that it needs to search for the training device, etc. Alternatively, the first communication device receives the indication information of the communication device search request in the request message from the second communication device, and determines that it needs to search for the training device.

[0420] Specifically, the first communication device sends a communication device search request to the NRF, which may carry the communication device type, communication device capability information, etc. For example, the first communication device determines the communication device type, communication device capability, etc. to be searched based on the filtering information of the communication device search in step 1, and sends a communication device search request to the NRF.

[0421] The NRF feeds back information about the communication device that meets the conditions, such as instance ID, fully qualified domain name (FQDN), IP address, and other information.

[0422] Step 3. The first communication device processes the communication device information of the found training device, such as anonymizing it, so that the second communication device cannot directly see or identify the communication device information of the training device. Specifically, the first communication device can hide the instance ID, FQDN, IP address and other information of the training device, such as by using other codes, such as training device 1, etc., to anonymize the training device. It should be noted that if the first communication device does not receive information such as the task ID in step 1, the first communication device will assign a task ID by itself, and use the task ID to associate information related to the VFL task, such as information about the training device and information about the second communication device.

[0423] Step 4: The first communication device feeds back the found information to the second communication device. This step is optional, and the first communication device may not inform the second communication device of the found communication device information. For example, the first communication device sends the found communication device information to the second communication device via a response message or a notification message (corresponding to the initial request message or subscription message). The message may carry at least one of the following:

[0424] Task ID;

[0425] Communication device search result indication information, used to indicate the communication device search result, such as whether the communication device information meeting the conditions is found;

[0426] Anonymized communication device information (temporary identification information), including anonymized communication device identification information and communication device capability information; the communication device capability information includes VFL-related capability information, such as whether VFL is supported, supported VFL servers, VFL participants, etc.

[0427] VFL task information may include VFL task type identification information and VFL limitation information, etc.

[0428] Step 5: The first communication device determines to perform sample alignment. For example, after receiving a request message from the second communication device, the first communication device determines to perform sample alignment with the training device. Specifically, the first communication device receives VFL indication information in the request message from the second communication device, determines to perform VFL-related operations, and determines to perform sample alignment. Alternatively, the first communication device receives sample alignment request indication information in the request message from the second communication device and determines to perform sample alignment.

[0429] Step 6: The first communication device sends a sample acquisition request to the training device and / or the second communication device, requesting the sample ID information related to the VFL task owned by the training device / the second communication device. The first communication device can combine their sample ID information to determine the final sample ID information.

[0430] Sample alignment means that the training device and the secondary communication device may have inconsistent sample ID information. For example, some UEs may have services and information on the core network, but not on the secondary communication device. Only samples with information on both sides can be used for VFL training and other operations.

[0431] Specifically, after determining that sample alignment is to be performed, the first communication device sends a sample ID acquisition request to the training device / the second communication device, such as acquiring sample ID 1 from the training device and acquiring sample ID 2 from the second communication device.

[0432] It should be noted that, if in step 1, the second communication device has sent its sample ID information to the first communication device, the first communication device does not need to send a sample ID acquisition request to the second communication device.

[0433] You may bring at least one of the following:

[0434] Task ID: The training device can know the task identification information corresponding to the VFL task, and the second communication device can determine which VFL task it is through this identification information;

[0435] Instruction information for requesting to obtain sample ID, used to instruct the training device / second communication device to feedback its sample ID information, and further, sample ID information related to the VFL task;

[0436] VFL task information.

[0437] Step 7: The first communication device determines the aligned sample ID information. Specifically, after collecting the sample ID information of the training device / second communication device, the first communication device performs operations such as sample alignment to determine a common sample ID, i.e., the intersection of multiple sample ID data.

[0438] It should be noted that the above-mentioned operation of determining the aligned sample IDs can also be performed by the training device / second communication device, such as the first communication device sending the sample ID information of the second communication device to the training device, or the ENF sending the sample ID information of the training device to the second communication device, etc., so that the training device / second communication device can align the sample IDs.

[0439] Step 8: The first communication device feeds back the aligned sample ID information. Specifically, after determining the aligned sample ID information, the first communication device sends the aligned sample ID information to the training device / second communication device. This message may carry at least one of the following:

[0440] Aligned sample ID data (e.g., sample ID 3);

[0441] The instruction information for transmitting the aligned sample ID is used to indicate that the transmitted sample ID is the aligned sample ID;

[0442] Task ID;

[0443] VFL task information.

[0444] Step 9: The first communication device determines to perform VFL training and other processes. For example, after receiving a request message from the second communication device, the first communication device determines to perform VFL training. Specifically, the first communication device receives VFL indication information in the request message from the second communication device, determines to perform VFL-related operations, and determines to perform VFL training, etc. Alternatively, the first communication device receives VFL training request indication information in the request message from the second communication device and determines to perform VFL training.

[0445] It should be noted that the configuration information of the VFL training, such as the time and area of ​​the VFL training, can be determined by the second communication device in step 1 or by the first communication device itself.

[0446] Step 10: The first communication device sends a training confirmation request to the training device / second communication device to confirm whether VFL training and other operations can be performed; the training device / second communication device may not be able to participate in VFL training due to load and other issues.

[0447] Specifically, the first communication device may send a confirmation request to the training device / second communication device to confirm whether the training device / second communication device can participate in the VFL training, such as informing the training device / second communication device of information such as the training time.

[0448] Among them, at least one of the following may be included:

[0449] Task ID;

[0450] Instruction information for confirming participation in VFL training, used to indicate that the message is used to confirm whether the training device / second communication device can participate in VFL training;

[0451] VFL task information;

[0452] VFL training filtering information, such as the time of VFL training.

[0453] The training device / second communication device may provide feedback on whether it can participate in VFL training;

[0454] Step 11: The first communication device sends a VFL training request message to the training device, requesting the training device to perform local training to start the VFL training process. The message may include at least one of the following:

[0455] Task ID;

[0456] Request instructions for VFL training;

[0457] VFL task information.

[0458] Step 12. Specifically, the training device needs to perform local training based on the VFL task information, local data and local model, and feed back the model output result as intermediate data to the first communication device, and then the first communication device feeds back to the second communication device.

[0459] Step 13: The training device feeds back the output result of the model as intermediate data to the first communication device, and the first communication device feeds back the output result to the second communication device. It should be noted that when the first communication device sends the intermediate result to the second communication device, it will not directly indicate which communication device generated the intermediate result. It may be associated through the task ID, and the second communication device can know which VFL task the intermediate result corresponds to through the task ID. Furthermore, the first communication device will send the anonymized communication device identification information corresponding to the communication device to the second communication device, so that the second communication device can determine the model corresponding to the intermediate result, the corresponding input data, and the input order, position, etc.

[0460] You may bring at least one of the following:

[0461] Task ID;

[0462] Anonymized communication device ID;

[0463] Intermediate results;

[0464] Intermediate result indication information, used to indicate that the data is an intermediate result of VFL training, etc.;

[0465] VFL task information;

[0466] Step 14: The second communication device determines the loss value and other information based on the intermediate result. For example, the second communication device inputs the intermediate result fed back by the first communication device into its own model, generates output data, and then compares the data with the label data (label, ground truth, etc.) to confirm the loss value. In another method, the second communication device goes a step further and reversely derives the gradient value of the intermediate result based on the loss value; the training device can update its local model based on the loss value and gradient value;

[0467] Steps 15-16: The second communication device feeds back information such as a loss value or a gradient value through the first communication device;

[0468] It should be noted that the second communication device / training device may subsequently send a VFL inference request message to the first communication device, requesting the VFL to perform VFL inference and other operations. The message may carry at least one of the following:

[0469] Indication information for VFL reasoning;

[0470] Task ID;

[0471] Target information (Target information), such as UE information, is used to indicate the target device for inference;

[0472] VFL task information, etc.

[0473] The first communication device determines other training devices / second communication devices related to the VFL task through the task ID, and sends a VFL inference request to the other training devices / second communication devices to complete the VFL inference.

[0474] Example 2:

[0475] This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, except that the second communication device triggers itself to perform operations such as communication device search, sample alignment, and VFL training. As shown in FIG7 , the following steps are included:

[0476] Step 1: The second communication device sends a request message to the first communication device. Specifically, the second communication device may send at least one of the following to the first communication device:

[0477] Task identification information (Task ID);

[0478] The communication device searches for indication information of the request;

[0479] The filtering information searched by the communication device is used to indicate the conditions that the target communication device must meet;

[0480] VFL task type identification information, used to indicate the specific VFL task category, analytics ID, such as OSE;

[0481] Filter information of VFL tasks, such as time, location, slice, etc.

[0482] Step 2: The first communication device searches for a training device.

[0483] Step 3. The first communication device processes the communication device information of the found training device, such as anonymizing it, so that the second communication device cannot directly see or identify the communication device information of the training device. Specifically, the first communication device can hide the instance ID, FQDN, IP address and other information of the training device, such as by using other codes, such as training device 1, etc., to anonymize the training device. It should be noted that if the first communication device does not receive information such as the task ID in step 1, the first communication device will assign a task ID by itself, and use the task ID to associate information related to the VFL task, such as information about the training device and information about the second communication device.

[0484] Step 4: The first communication device feeds back the found information to the second communication device. This step is optional, and the first communication device may not inform the second communication device of the found communication device information. For example, the first communication device sends the found communication device information to the second communication device via a response message or a notification message (corresponding to the initial request message or subscription message). The message may carry at least one of the following:

[0485] Task ID;

[0486] Communication device search result indication information, used to indicate the communication device search result, such as whether the communication device information meeting the conditions is found;

[0487] Anonymized communication device information (temporary identification information), including anonymized communication device identification information and communication device capability information; the communication device capability information includes VFL-related capability information, such as whether VFL is supported, supported VFL servers, VFL participants, etc.

[0488] VFL task information may include VFL task type identification information and VFL limitation information, etc.

[0489] Step 5: The second communication device sends a sample alignment request to the first communication device. The request may include at least one of the following:

[0490] Task identification information;

[0491] Instructions for sample alignment;

[0492] Sample ID;

[0493] Instructions for requesting sample IDs;

[0494] VFL task information.

[0495] In steps 6a and 6b, the first communication device sends a sample acquisition request to the training device and / or the second communication device, requesting the sample ID information related to the VFL task owned by the training device / the second communication device. The first communication device can combine the sample ID information to determine the final sample ID information.

[0496] Specifically, after determining that sample alignment is to be performed, the first communication device sends a sample ID acquisition request to the training device / the second communication device, such as acquiring sample ID 1 from the training device and acquiring sample ID 2 from the second communication device.

[0497] It should be noted that, if in step 1, the second communication device has sent its sample ID information to the first communication device, the first communication device does not need to send a sample ID acquisition request to the second communication device.

[0498] You may bring at least one of the following:

[0499] Task ID: The training device can know the task identification information corresponding to the VFL task, and the second communication device can determine which VFL task it is through this identification information;

[0500] Instruction information for requesting to obtain sample ID, used to instruct the training device / second communication device to feedback its sample ID information, and further, sample ID information related to the VFL task;

[0501] VFL task information.

[0502] Step 7: The first communication device determines the aligned sample ID information. Specifically, after collecting the sample ID information of the training device / second communication device, the first communication device performs operations such as sample alignment to determine a common sample ID, i.e., the intersection of multiple sample ID data.

[0503] It should be noted that the above-mentioned operation of determining the aligned sample IDs can also be performed by the training device / second communication device, such as the first communication device sending the sample ID information of the second communication device to the training device, or the ENF sending the sample ID information of the training device to the second communication device, etc., so that the training device / second communication device can align the sample IDs.

[0504] Step 8: The first communication device feeds back the aligned sample ID information. Specifically, after determining the aligned sample ID information, the first communication device sends the aligned sample ID information to the training device / second communication device. This message may carry at least one of the following:

[0505] Aligned sample ID data (e.g., sample ID 3);

[0506] The instruction information for transmitting the aligned sample ID is used to indicate that the transmitted sample ID is the aligned sample ID;

[0507] Task ID;

[0508] VFL task information.

[0509] Step 9: The second communication device sends a VFL training request to the first communication device. The request may include at least one of the following:

[0510] Task identification information;

[0511] Instructions for the start of VFL training;

[0512] Filter information for VFL training;

[0513] VFL task information.

[0514] In steps 10a and 10b, the first communication device sends a training confirmation request to the training device / second communication device to confirm whether VFL training and other operations can be performed; the training device / second communication device may not be able to participate in VFL training due to load and other issues.

[0515] Specifically, the first communication device may send a confirmation request to the training device / second communication device to confirm whether the training device / second communication device can participate in the VFL training, such as informing the training device / second communication device of information such as the training time.

[0516] Among them, at least one of the following may be included:

[0517] Task ID;

[0518] Instruction information for confirming participation in VFL training, used to indicate that the message is used to confirm whether the training device / second communication device can participate in VFL training;

[0519] VFL task information;

[0520] VFL training filtering information, such as the time of VFL training.

[0521] The training device / second communication device may provide feedback on whether it can participate in VFL training;

[0522] Step 11: The first communication device sends a VFL training request message to the training device, requesting the training device to perform local training to start the VFL training process. The message may include at least one of the following:

[0523] Task ID;

[0524] Request instructions for VFL training;

[0525] VFL task information.

[0526] Step 12. Specifically, the training device needs to perform local training based on the VFL task information, local data and local model, and feed back the model output result as intermediate data to the first communication device, and then the first communication device feeds back to the second communication device.

[0527] Step 13: The training device feeds back the output result of the model as intermediate data to the first communication device, and the first communication device feeds back the output result to the second communication device. It should be noted that when the first communication device sends the intermediate result to the second communication device, it will not directly indicate which communication device generated the intermediate result. It may be associated through the task ID, and the second communication device can know which VFL task the intermediate result corresponds to through the task ID. Furthermore, the first communication device will send the anonymized communication device identification information corresponding to the communication device to the second communication device, so that the second communication device can determine the model corresponding to the intermediate result, the corresponding input data, and the input order, position, etc.

[0528] You may bring at least one of the following:

[0529] Task ID;

[0530] Anonymized communication device ID;

[0531] Intermediate results;

[0532] Intermediate result indication information, used to indicate that the data is an intermediate result of VFL training, etc.;

[0533] VFL task information;

[0534] Step 14: The second communication device determines information such as the Loss value based on the intermediate result. For example, the second communication device inputs the intermediate result fed back by the first communication device into its own model, generates output data, and then compares the data with the label data (label, ground truth, etc.) to confirm the Loss value. In another method, the second communication device goes a step further and reversely derives the gradient value of the intermediate result based on the Loss value; the training device can update its local model based on the Loss value and gradient value;

[0535] Steps 15-16: The second communication device feeds back information such as a loss value or a gradient value through the first communication device;

[0536] It should be noted that the second communication device / training device may subsequently send a VFL inference request message to the first communication device, requesting the VFL to perform VFL inference and other operations. The message may carry at least one of the following:

[0537] Indication information for VFL reasoning;

[0538] Task ID;

[0539] Target information (Target information), such as UE information, is used to indicate the target device for inference;

[0540] VFL task information, etc.

[0541] The first communication device determines other training devices / second communication devices related to the VFL task through the task ID, and sends a VFL inference request to the other training devices / second communication devices to complete the VFL inference.

[0542] Example 3:

[0543] This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, except that after receiving the VFL request message, the fourth communication device (NEF) redirects (forwards) the VFL request message to the first communication device (another NEF), such as an NEF that specifically performs VFL-related operations, due to load or other reasons. As shown in FIG8 , the process includes the following steps:

[0544] Step 1: The second communication device sends a request message to the fourth communication device, requesting a VFL-related operation. The second communication device may send at least one of the following to the fourth communication device:

[0545] Task identification information (Task ID);

[0546] Instruction information requesting execution of VFL-related operations, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in executing VFL-related operations, such as communication device search (searching for communication device entities participating in the VFL), sample alignment, VFL training, etc.;

[0547] Instruction information of the communication device search request, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in performing the communication device search operation;

[0548] The filtering information searched by the communication device is used to indicate the conditions that the target communication device must meet;

[0549] Communication device type information, communication device capability information, VFL-related capability information, etc.

[0550] Sample alignment instruction information, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in performing a sample alignment operation;

[0551] Sample ID information, used to indicate the sample ID owned by the second communication device, which can facilitate subsequent operations such as sample alignment;

[0552] VFL training instruction information, used to instruct the first communication device to assist in performing an operation of organizing VFL training;

[0553] VFL training filtering information is used to indicate VFL training requirement information, such as VFL training time and area;

[0554] VFL task type identification information, used to indicate the specific VFL task category, analytics ID, such as OSE;

[0555] VFL task filter information, such as time, location, and slice restrictions;

[0556] Interoperability indication information, used to indicate the interoperability indication identifier of the communication device, such as the Vendor ID, etc.; to help the network determine which communication devices can interoperate with the communication device (such as transferring models, transferring information, joint model training, etc.);

[0557] Step 2, the fourth communication device searches for the training device. For example, after receiving the request message from the second communication device, the first communication device determines that it needs to search for the training device, and can determine the training device by interacting with the NRF or based on its own information. Specifically, the first communication device receives the VFL indication information in the request message from the second communication device, determines that it needs to perform VFL-related operations, and determines that it needs to search for the training device, etc.; or, the first communication device receives the indication information of the communication device search request in the request message from the second communication device, and determines that it needs to search for the training device.

[0558] Specifically, the first communication device sends a communication device search request to the NRF, which may carry the communication device type, communication device capability information, etc. For example, the first communication device determines the communication device type, communication device capability, etc. to be searched based on the filtering information of the communication device search in step 1, and sends a communication device search request to the NRF.

[0559] The NRF feeds back information about the communication device that meets the conditions, such as instance ID, fully qualified domain name (FQDN), IP address, and other information.

[0560] Step 3: The fourth communication device determines to perform sample alignment. For example, after receiving a request message from the second communication device, the first communication device determines to perform sample alignment with the training device. Specifically, the first communication device receives VFL indication information in the request message from the second communication device, determines to perform VFL-related operations, and determines to perform sample alignment, etc. Alternatively, the first communication device receives sample alignment request indication information in the request message from the second communication device and determines to perform sample alignment.

[0561] Step 4: The fourth communication device requests a tissue sample alignment task from the first communication device. The content sent may include at least one of the following:

[0562] Request instructions for organizing sample alignment tasks;

[0563] VFL task information;

[0564] Identification information of the training device.

[0565] In steps 5a and 5b, the first communication device sends a sample acquisition request to the training device and / or the second communication device, requesting the sample ID information related to the VFL task owned by the training device / the second communication device. The first communication device can combine the sample ID information to determine the final sample ID information.

[0566] Specifically, after determining that sample alignment is to be performed, the first communication device sends a sample ID acquisition request to the training device / the second communication device, such as acquiring sample ID 1 from the training device and acquiring sample ID 2 from the second communication device.

[0567] It should be noted that, if in step 1, the second communication device has sent its sample ID information to the first communication device, the first communication device does not need to send a sample ID acquisition request to the second communication device.

[0568] You may bring at least one of the following:

[0569] Task ID: The training device can know the task identification information corresponding to the VFL task, and the second communication device can determine which VFL task it is through this identification information;

[0570] Instruction information for requesting to obtain sample ID, used to instruct the training device / second communication device to feedback its sample ID information, and further, sample ID information related to the VFL task;

[0571] VFL task information.

[0572] Step 6: The first communication device determines the aligned sample ID information. Specifically, after collecting the sample ID information of the training device / second communication device, the first communication device performs operations such as sample alignment to determine a common sample ID, that is, the intersection of multiple sample ID data;

[0573] It should be noted that the above-mentioned operation of determining the aligned sample IDs can also be performed by the training device / second communication device, such as the first communication device sending the sample ID information of the second communication device to the training device, or the ENF sending the sample ID information of the training device to the second communication device, etc., so that the training device / second communication device can align the sample IDs.

[0574] Step 7: The first communication device feeds back the aligned sample ID information. Specifically, after determining the aligned sample ID information, the first communication device sends the aligned sample ID information to the training device / second communication device. This message may carry at least one of the following:

[0575] Aligned sample ID data (e.g., sample ID 3);

[0576] The instruction information for transmitting the aligned sample ID is used to indicate that the transmitted sample ID is the aligned sample ID;

[0577] Task ID;

[0578] VFL task information.

[0579] Step 8: The first communication device determines to perform VFL training and other processes. For example, after receiving a request message from the second communication device, the first communication device determines to perform VFL training. Specifically, the first communication device receives VFL indication information in the request message from the second communication device, determines to perform VFL-related operations, and determines to perform VFL training, etc. Alternatively, the first communication device receives VFL training request indication information in the request message from the second communication device and determines to perform VFL training.

[0580] It should be noted that the configuration information of the VFL training, such as the time and area of ​​the VFL training, can be determined by the second communication device in step 1 or by the first communication device itself.

[0581] Step 9: Perform VFL training, specifically, the training device and the second communication device perform VFL training.

[0582] Taking the second communication device as AF as an example, in the embodiment of the present application, AF (especially untrusted AF) interacts with the communication device inside the core network through NEF. During this process, VFL tasks and model information are associated through an identification information (such as task ID), thereby completing VFL-related communication device search, sample alignment, VFL training, VFL inference and other operations without exposing information in the core network communication device;

[0583] AF can trigger the VFL process through a message, and NEF decides how to complete specific VFL-related operations;

[0584] AF can also trigger the VFL process through multiple messages, that is, AF triggers VFL related operations.

[0585] Example 4:

[0586] This embodiment mainly describes a process in which a second communication device searches for a communication device through a first communication device, which includes the following steps as shown in FIG9 :

[0587] Step 1: The VFL client sends a registration request (such as Nnrf_NFManagement_NFRegister Request) to the VRF. The request carries VFL capability information.

[0588] Step 2: The NRF stores VFL capability information.

[0589] Step 3: NRF sends a registration response to the VFL client (e.g., Nnrf_NFManagement_NFRegister Response).

[0590] Step 4. The second communication device sends a message to the first communication device to search for VFL clients (such as AF triggered VFL clients Discovery), which carries the NWDAF type (NWDAF type) and the required VFL related information (Required VFL related info), that is, the second information, which is used to request the execution of VFL-related communication device search.

[0591] Step 5: The first communication device sends a search request (such as Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request) to the NRF, carrying the NWDAF type and the required VFL related information.

[0592] Step 6: The NRF sends a search response (such as Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request Response) to the first communication device, carrying the NWDAF instance identifier (NWDAF instances), that is, the information of the training device, such as the instance information of the training device.

[0593] Step 7: The first communication device anonymizes the NWDAF instance ID(s) into a temporary ID(s), that is, the temporary identification information of the training device.

[0594] Step 8: The first communication device sends a temporary identification to the second communication device, sends temporary identification information of the training device, etc.

[0595] Embodiment 5:

[0596] This embodiment mainly describes the sample alignment and model training process, which includes the following steps as shown in Figure 10:

[0597] Step 0: The consumer sends a model request (such as Nnwdaf_MLModelProvision_Subscribe, carrying an analytics ID) to the second communication device.

[0598] Step 0a: Find NWDAF VFL clients (NWDAF VFL client(s) discovery).

[0599] Step 1. The second communication device sends a VFL sample information alignment request (Samples alignment request for VFL) to the first communication device, carrying an analysis identifier, a sample identifier (sample ID(s) selected by AF) selected by the second communication device, a VFL task correlation ID (VFL task correlation ID), VFL screening information or VFL filtering information, and a temporary NWDAF ID(s).

[0600] Step 2: The second communication device sends a VFL sample alignment request (eg, Samples alignment request for VFL) to the VFL client (ie, the training device), carrying an analysis identifier, a VFL task association identifier, and VFL filtering information.

[0601] Step 3: The VFL client sends a VFL sample alignment response (such as a Samples alignment response for VFL) to the first communication device, carrying the sample ID(s) selected by each NWDAF.

[0602] Step 4: The first communication device determines common samples for the VFL task.

[0603] Step 5: The first communication device sends a VFL sample notification (Samples notify for VFL) to the second communication device, carrying sample IDs determined for the VFL (sample IDs determined for the VFL), that is, aligned sample information or aligned training sample information.

[0604] Step 6: The first communication device sends a VFL sample notification to the training device, carrying a sample identifier determined for the VFL.

[0605] Step 7: The second communication device sends a VFL training request (eg, a VFL training request) to the first communication device, carrying an analysis identifier, a VFL task-related identifier, VFL filtering information, and a temporary NWDAF identifier.

[0606] Step 8: The first communication device sends a VFL training request for each second communication device (such as a VFL training request to each NWDAF) to the VFL client, carrying an analysis identifier, a VFL task-related identifier, a sample identifier, and VFL filtering information.

[0607] Step 9: The VFL client performs local model training and generates intermediate results.

[0608] Step 10: The VFL client sends a VFL training response of each second communication device (eg, VFL training response from each AF) to the first communication device, carrying the intermediate result, the sample identifier, and the NWDAF instance identifier.

[0609] Step 11: The first communication device sends a VFL training response of each second communication device to the second communication device, carrying an intermediate result, a sample identifier, and an NWDAF instance identifier (NWDAF instance ID), such as sending first feedback information to the second communication device.

[0610] Step 12: The second communication device aggregates the intermediate results and generates a gradient value.

[0611] Step 13: The second communication device sends a VFL training request (eg, a VFL training request) to the first communication device, carrying a gradient value, a sample identifier, any VFL related identifier, and a temporary NWDAF identifier.

[0612] Step 14: The first communication device sends a VFL training request to the VFL client, carrying a gradient value, a sample identifier, and any VFL related identifiers.

[0613] Step 15: The second communication device determines VFL training fusion.

[0614] Afterwards, a notification (such as Nnwdaf_MLModelProvision_Notify) is sent to the consumer, carrying a VFL model indication.

[0615] In this embodiment, steps 1-6 are the process corresponding to sample alignment, and steps 7-14 are the process corresponding to model training. The sample identification is omitted, and the ID is used to indicate the training data corresponding to this round of training.

[0616] Example 6:

[0617] This embodiment mainly describes the VFL reasoning process, which includes the following steps as shown in FIG11 :

[0618] Step 1: The consumer sends a VFL inference request to the second communication device, carrying an analysis identifier, a VFL task-related identifier, and analysis filtering information.

[0619] Step 2: The second communication device determines the temporary NWDAF instance identifier and VFL screening information.

[0620] Step 3: The second communication device sends a VFL inference request to the first communication device, carrying an analysis identifier, namely, a data analysis identifier, a VFL task-related identifier, VFL screening information, and a temporary NWDAF instance identifier.

[0621] Step 4: The second communication device sends a VFL inference request for each NWDAF to the VFL client (training device), carrying an analysis identifier, a VFL task-related identifier, and VFL screening information.

[0622] Step 5: The VFL client generates intermediate results based on the local model.

[0623] Step 6: The VFL client sends a VFL response to the first communication device, carrying the intermediate result and the NWDAF instance.

[0624] Step 7: The second communication device sends a VFL response to the first communication device, carrying the intermediate result and the NWDAF instance.

[0625] Step 8: The second communication device aggregates the intermediate results and generates a final result.

[0626] Step 9: The second communication device sends a VFL inference response to the consumer, carrying the VFL inference result.

[0627] It should be noted that the above embodiments are mainly illustrated by taking NWDAF as the training device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the training device to NWDAF, and may be communication devices such as MTLF or AnLF.

[0628] In the embodiment of the present application, VFL-related operations such as communication device search, sample alignment, VFL training, and VFL reasoning are completed without exposing information in the core network communication device, thereby protecting the information in the core network.

[0629] The VFL processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a VFL processing device. In the embodiment of the present application, the VFL processing device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the VFL processing method executed by the VFL processing device as an example.

[0630] Please refer to FIG. 12 , which is a structural diagram of a VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12 , the VFL processing device 1200 includes:

[0631] The first sending module 1201 is configured to send first information to a second communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0632] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0633] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0634] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0635] The first receiving module is configured to receive second information from the second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0636] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0637] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0638] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0639] The conversion module is used to convert the identification information of the training device into the temporary identification information.

[0640] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0641] The first determining module is used to determine the training device of the VFL.

[0642] Optionally, the training device for determining VFL includes:

[0643] Searching for the training device of the VFL through a third communication device; or

[0644] Receive third information sent by a fourth communication device, where the third information includes information of the training device.

[0645] Optionally, the third information further includes at least one of the following:

[0646] Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

[0647] Optionally, the task identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0648] task identification information determined by the first communication device;

[0649] The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

[0650] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0651] A second sending module, configured to send fourth information to the second communication device or the training device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of a training sample;

[0652] The second receiving module is configured to receive training sample information sent by the second communication device or the training device.

[0653] Optionally, the device further comprises at least one of the following:

[0654] A second determining module, configured to determine sample alignment, or receive fifth information sent by the second communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment;

[0655] The second determining module is configured to determine VFL training, or receive sixth information sent by the second communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

[0656] Optionally, the fifth information carries at least one of the following:

[0657] The task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, and VFL task information;

[0658] or,

[0659] The sixth information carries at least one of the following:

[0660] The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

[0661] Optionally, the device further comprises at least one of the following:

[0662] A third sending module, configured to send the training sample information of the training device to the second communication device;

[0663] The fourth sending module is configured to send the training sample information of the second communication device to the training device.

[0664] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0665] A fourth determination module, configured to determine aligned training sample information;

[0666] A fifth sending module is configured to send the aligned training sample information to the second communication device or the training device.

[0667] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0668] The sixth sending module is configured to send seventh information to the second communication device or the training device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

[0669] Optionally, the device further comprises at least one of the following:

[0670] a seventh sending module, configured to send first feedback information to the second communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device;

[0671] an eighth sending module, configured to send second feedback information to the training device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device;

[0672] a ninth sending module, configured to send third feedback information to the training device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device;

[0673] A tenth sending module is used to send fourth feedback information to the second communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes the second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device.

[0674] Optionally, the first feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0675] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result that is an intermediate result of the training device, and the VFL task information; or

[0676] The fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0677] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

[0678] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0679] The third receiving module is configured to receive eighth information sent by the second communication device or the training device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0680] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0681] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0682] An eleventh sending module is used to send inference result information to the second communication device or the training device.

[0683] Optionally, the VFL task information includes at least one of the following:

[0684] Filter information for VFL training,

[0685] VFL task type identification information,

[0686] Filter information for VFL tasks.

[0687] The VFL processing device can improve communication security.

[0688] The VFL processing device in the embodiment of the present application may be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in the electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or a chip. The electronic device may be a terminal or a network-side device.

[0689] The VFL processing device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the method embodiment shown in Figure 2 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0690] Please refer to FIG. 13 , which is a structural diagram of a VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 13 , the VFL processing device 1300 includes:

[0691] The first receiving module 1301 is configured to receive first information sent by the first communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0692] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0693] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL

[0694] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0695] The first sending module is used for the second communication device to send second information to the first communication device, where the second information is used to request to perform a VFL-related communication device search.

[0696] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0697] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0698] Optionally, the task identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0699] task identification information determined by the first communication device;

[0700] The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

[0701] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0702] A second receiving module, configured to receive fourth information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of a training sample;

[0703] The second sending module is configured to send training sample information to the first communication device.

[0704] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0705] A third sending module, configured to send fifth information to the first communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment;

[0706] The fourth sending module is configured to send sixth information to the first communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

[0707] Optionally, the fifth information carries at least one of the following:

[0708] The task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, and VFL task information;

[0709] or,

[0710] The sixth information carries at least one of the following:

[0711] The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

[0712] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0713] a third receiving module, configured to receive training sample information of the training device sent by the first communication device;

[0714] A determination module is used to determine aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the training device.

[0715] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0716] A fifth sending module is configured to send the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

[0717] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0718] The fourth receiving module is configured to receive seventh information sent by the first communication device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

[0719] Optionally, the device further comprises at least one of the following:

[0720] a fifth receiving module, configured to receive first feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device;

[0721] a sixth sending module, configured to send an intermediate result of VFL training performed by the second communication device to the first communication device;

[0722] a seventh sending module, configured to send a first loss value or a first gradient value to the first communication device, where the first loss value or the first gradient value is the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device;

[0723] A sixth receiving module is used to receive fourth feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

[0724] Optionally, the first feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0725] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result that is an intermediate result of the training device, and the VFL task information; or

[0726] The fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0727] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

[0728] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0729] an eighth sending module, configured to send eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0730] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0731] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0732] A seventh receiving module is used to receive the inference result information sent by the first communication device.

[0733] Optionally, the VFL task information includes at least one of the following:

[0734] Filter information for VFL training,

[0735] VFL task type identification information,

[0736] Filter information for VFL tasks.

[0737] The VFL processing device can improve communication security.

[0738] In the embodiments of the present application, the VFL processing device can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component of the electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. For example, the electronic device can be a terminal, or it can be a device other than a terminal. For example, the terminal can include, but is not limited to, the types of terminals listed in the embodiments of the present application, and the other device can be a server, a NAS, etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0739] The VFL processing device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the method embodiment shown in Figure 3 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0740] Please refer to FIG. 14 , which is a structural diagram of a VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 14 , the VFL processing device 1400 includes:

[0741] An execution module 1401 is configured to execute a VFL operation, where the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL;

[0742] The VFL operation includes the following:

[0743] receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample;

[0744] receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device;

[0745] Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device;

[0746] The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

[0747] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0748] A first sending module is configured to send the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

[0749] Optionally, the device further comprises at least one of the following:

[0750] a first receiving module, configured to receive second feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of VFL training performed by the first communication device;

[0751] The second receiving module is configured to receive third feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device.

[0752] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0753] The second sending module is configured to send eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0754] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0755] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0756] The third receiving module is used to receive the inference result information sent by the first communication device.

[0757] The VFL processing device can improve communication security.

[0758] In the embodiments of the present application, the VFL processing device can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component of the electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. For example, the electronic device can be a terminal, or it can be a device other than a terminal. For example, the terminal can include, but is not limited to, the types of terminals listed in the embodiments of the present application, and the other device can be a server, a NAS, etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0759] The VFL processing device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the method embodiment shown in Figure 4 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0760] Please refer to FIG. 15 , which is a structural diagram of a VFL processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 15 , the VFL processing device 1500 includes:

[0761] A sending module 1501 is configured to send third information to a first communication device, where the third information includes information about the training device;

[0762] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0763] Optionally, the third information further includes at least one of the following:

[0764] Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

[0765] Optionally, the device further comprises:

[0766] The receiving module is configured to receive second information sent by a second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0767] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0768] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0769] The VFL processing device can improve communication security.

[0770] The VFL processing device in the embodiment of the present application may be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in the electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or a chip. The electronic device may be a terminal or a network-side device.

[0771] The VFL processing device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the method embodiment shown in Figure 5 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0772] Optionally, as shown in Figure 16, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device 1600, including a processor 1601 and a memory 1602, and the memory 1602 stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor 1601. For example, when the communication device 1600 is a first device, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1601 to implement the various steps of the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0773] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to send first information to a second communication device, the first information being used to indicate at least one of the following: task identification information, indication information of finding a training device, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information; the training device is a communication device participating in VFL. Alternatively, the communication interface is used to receive first information sent by the first communication device, the first information being used to indicate at least one of the following: task identification information, indication information of finding a training device, temporary identification information of the training device, and VFL task information; the training device is a communication device participating in VFL. Alternatively, the communication interface is used to send third information to the first communication device, the third information including information of the training device; the training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0774] This communication device embodiment corresponds to the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment. The various implementation processes and implementation methods of the above-mentioned method embodiment are applicable to this communication device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects.

[0775] Specifically, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network-side device, which is a first communication device, a second communication device, or a fourth communication device. As shown in FIG17 , the network-side device 1700 includes a processor 1701, a network interface 1702, and a memory 1703. The network interface 1702 is, for example, a common public radio interface (CPRI).

[0776] Specifically, the network side device 1700 of the embodiment of the present application also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 1703 and can be run on the processor 1701. The processor 1701 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 1703 to execute the methods executed by the modules shown in Figures 9, 10 or 12, and achieves the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0777] In one embodiment, the network side device is a first communication device:

[0778] The network interface 1702 is configured to send first information to the second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0779] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0780] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0781] Optionally, before sending the first information to the second communication device, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0782] Second information is received from the second communication device, where the second information is used to request to perform a VFL-related communication device search.

[0783] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0784] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0785] Optionally, before sending the first information to the second communication device, the processor 1701 is configured to:

[0786] The identification information of the training device is converted into the temporary identification information.

[0787] Optionally, before sending the first information to the second communication device, the processor 1701 or the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0788] Identify training equipment for VFL.

[0789] Optionally, the training device for determining VFL includes:

[0790] Searching for the training device of the VFL through a third communication device; or

[0791] Receive third information sent by a fourth communication device, where the third information includes information of the training device.

[0792] Optionally, the third information further includes at least one of the following:

[0793] Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

[0794] Optionally, the task identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0795] task identification information determined by the first communication device;

[0796] The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

[0797] Optionally, the processor 1701 or the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0798] Sending fourth information to the second communication device or the training device, where the fourth information is used to request obtaining a training sample;

[0799] Receive training sample information sent by the second communication device or the training device.

[0800] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0801] determining sample alignment, or receiving fifth information sent by the second communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment;

[0802] Determine VFL training, or receive sixth information sent by the second communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

[0803] Optionally, the fifth information carries at least one of the following:

[0804] The task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, and VFL task information;

[0805] or,

[0806] The sixth information carries at least one of the following:

[0807] The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

[0808] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0809] Sending training sample information of the training device to the second communication device;

[0810] The training sample information of the second communication device is sent to the training device.

[0811] Optionally, the processor 1701 or the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0812] Determine the aligned training sample information;

[0813] The aligned training sample information is sent to the second communication device or the training device.

[0814] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0815] Seventh information is sent to the second communication device or the training device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

[0816] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0817] Sending first feedback information to the second communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device;

[0818] Sending second feedback information to the training device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device;

[0819] Sending third feedback information to the training device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device;

[0820] Fourth feedback information is sent to the second communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

[0821] Optionally, the first feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0822] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result that is an intermediate result of the training device, and the VFL task information; or

[0823] The fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0824] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

[0825] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0826] receiving eighth information sent by the second communication device or the training device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0827] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0828] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0829] The inference result information is sent to the second communication device or the training device.

[0830] Optionally, the VFL task information includes at least one of the following:

[0831] Filter information for VFL training,

[0832] VFL task type identification information,

[0833] Filter information for VFL tasks.

[0834] In one embodiment, the network side device is a second communication device:

[0835] The network interface 1702 is configured to receive first information sent by the first communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0836] Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information;

[0837] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0838] Optionally, before receiving the first information sent by the first communication device, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0839] Second information is sent to the first communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0840] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0841] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0842] Optionally, the task identification information includes at least one of the following:

[0843] task identification information determined by the first communication device;

[0844] The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

[0845] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0846] The second communication device receives fourth information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request to obtain a training sample;

[0847] The second communication device sends training sample information to the first communication device.

[0848] Optionally, before receiving the fourth information sent by the first communication device, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0849] Sending fifth information to the first communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment;

[0850] Sixth information is sent to the first communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

[0851] Optionally, the fifth information carries at least one of the following:

[0852] The task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, and VFL task information;

[0853] or,

[0854] The sixth information carries at least one of the following:

[0855] The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

[0856] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0857] receiving training sample information of the training device sent by the first communication device;

[0858] Aligned training sample information is determined based on the training sample information sent by the training device.

[0859] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0860] The aligned training sample information is sent to the first communication device.

[0861] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0862] Receive seventh information sent by the first communication device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

[0863] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0864] receiving first feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device;

[0865] Sending an intermediate result of VFL training performed by the second communication device to the first communication device;

[0866] Sending a first loss value or a first gradient value to the first communication device, where the first loss value or the first gradient value is the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device;

[0867] Receive fourth feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

[0868] Optionally, the first feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0869] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result that is an intermediate result of the training device, and the VFL task information; or

[0870] The fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following:

[0871] The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

[0872] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0873] Sending eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0874] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0875] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0876] Receive inference result information sent by the first communication device.

[0877] Optionally, the VFL task information includes at least one of the following:

[0878] Filter information for VFL training,

[0879] VFL task type identification information,

[0880] Filter information for VFL tasks.

[0881] In one embodiment, the network side device is a fourth communication device:

[0882] The network interface 1702 is configured to send third information to the first communication device, wherein the third information includes information about the training device;

[0883] The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

[0884] Optionally, the third information further includes at least one of the following:

[0885] Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

[0886] Optionally, the network interface 1702 is further configured to:

[0887] Second information sent by a second communication device is received, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

[0888] Optionally, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0889] The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

[0890] The above devices can improve communication security.

[0891] It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description of the above-mentioned method embodiment and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0892] The above-mentioned device can also implement the embodiment shown in Figure 4 or the method executed by each module shown in Figure 14, and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0893] The present application also provides an embodiment of a device, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or instruction to implement the steps of the method embodiment shown in FIG4 . This network-side device embodiment corresponds to the aforementioned data transmission method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the aforementioned method embodiment are applicable to this device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects.

[0894] An embodiment of the present application also provides a device, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to perform a VFL operation, and the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL; wherein the VFL operation includes the following items: receiving fourth information sent by a first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, the fourth information being used to request acquisition of training samples; receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device; sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device; and sending a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device to the first communication device.

[0895] Specifically, an embodiment of the present application also provides a device. The device is a training device as shown in Figure 18. The device 1800 includes: an antenna 1801, a radio frequency device 1802, a baseband device 1803, a processor 1804, and a memory 1805. The antenna 1801 is connected to the radio frequency device 1802. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 1802 receives information through the antenna 1801 and sends the received information to the baseband device 1803 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 1803 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency device 1802. The radio frequency device 1802 processes the received information and sends it out through the antenna 1801.

[0896] The VFL processing method in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 1803 , which includes a baseband processor.

[0897] The baseband device 1803 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, on which multiple chips are arranged, as shown in Figure 18, one of which is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 1805 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 1805 and execute the network device operations shown in the above method embodiment.

[0898] The device may further include a network interface 1806 , such as a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0899] Specifically, the device 1800 of the embodiment of the present application also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 1805 and executable on the processor 1804. The processor 1804 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 1805 to execute the methods executed by the modules shown in FIG11 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, they will not be elaborated here.

[0900] In this embodiment, the above device is the second device, and the second device is specifically used as a network-side device for example.

[0901] The radio frequency device 1802 is used to perform VFL operations, and the training device is a communication device participating in VFL;

[0902] The VFL operation includes the following:

[0903] receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample;

[0904] receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device;

[0905] Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device;

[0906] The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

[0907] Optionally, the radio frequency device 1802 is further configured to:

[0908] The aligned training sample information is sent to the first communication device.

[0909] Optionally, the radio frequency device 1802 is further configured to:

[0910] receiving second feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of VFL training performed by the first communication device;

[0911] Receive third feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device.

[0912] Optionally, the radio frequency device 1802 is further configured to:

[0913] Sending eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following:

[0914] Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

[0915] Optionally, the radio frequency device 1802 is further configured to:

[0916] Receive inference result information sent by the first communication device.

[0917] It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description of the above-mentioned method embodiment and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0918] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the various processes of the above-mentioned VFL processing method embodiment are implemented and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0919] The processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0920] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned VFL processing method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0921] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0922] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium. The computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned VFL processing method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0923] An embodiment of the present application further provides a wireless communication system, comprising: a first communication device, a second communication device and a training device, or comprising: a first communication device, a second communication device, a training device and a fourth communication device; wherein, the first communication device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the first communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, the second communication device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the second communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, the training device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the training device side provided in the embodiment of the present application, and the fourth communication device can be used to execute the steps of the VFL processing method on the fourth communication device side provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0924] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in the opposite order according to the functions involved. For example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0925] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of a computer software product plus a necessary general-purpose hardware platform, or of course, by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc.) and includes a number of instructions for enabling a terminal or network-side device to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0926] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of this application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms of implementation methods without departing from the purpose of this application and the scope of protection of the claims. These implementation methods are all within the protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for processing vertical federated learning (VFL), comprising: The first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information; The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Before the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the method further includes: The first communication device receives second information from the second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The second information includes at least one of the following: The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein Before the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the method further includes: The first communication device converts the identification information of the training device into the temporary identification information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein Before the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the method further includes: The first communication device determines a training device for the VFL.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The first communication device determines a training device for the VFL, including: The first communication device searches for a training device of the VFL through a third communication device; or The first communication device receives third information sent by the fourth communication device, where the third information includes information of the training device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The third information also includes at least one of the following: Instruction information for requesting to perform VFL-related operations and VFL task information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein The task identification information includes at least one of the following: task identification information determined by the first communication device; The task identification information assigned by the second communication device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: The first communication device sends fourth information to the second communication device or the training device, where the fourth information is used to request to obtain a training sample; The first communication device receives training sample information sent by the second communication device or the training device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising at least one of the following: The first communication device determines sample alignment, or the first communication device receives fifth information sent by the second communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment; The first communication device determines VFL training, or the first communication device receives sixth information sent by the second communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The fifth information carries at least one of the following: The task identification information, training sample information, temporary identification information of the training device, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, instruction information for requesting sample alignment, and VFL task information; or, The sixth information carries at least one of the following: The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising at least one of the following: The first communication device sends the training sample information of the training device to the second communication device; The first communication device sends the training sample information of the second communication device to the training device.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: The first communication device determines aligned training sample information; The first communication device sends the aligned training sample information to the second communication device or the training device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising: The first communication device sends seventh information to the second communication device or the training device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising at least one of the following: The first communication device sends first feedback information to the second communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device; The first communication device sends second feedback information to the training device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device; The first communication device sends third feedback information to the training device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device; The first communication device sends fourth feedback information to the second communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein: The first feedback information carries at least one of the following: The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the first feedback information carries an intermediate result that is an intermediate result of the training device, and the VFL task information; or The fourth feedback information carries at least one of the following: The task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the indication information for indicating that the fourth feedback information carries the second loss value or the second gradient value as the loss value or the gradient value of the training device, and the VFL task information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising: The first communication device receives eighth information sent by the second communication device or the training device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following: Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: The first communication device sends inference result information to the second communication device or the training device.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein The VFL task information includes at least one of the following: Filter information for VFL training, VFL task type identification information, Filter information for VFL tasks.

20. A method for processing vertical federated learning (VFL), comprising: The second communication device receives first information sent by the first communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information; The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: Before the second communication device receives the first information sent by the first communication device, the method further includes: The second communication device sends second information to the first communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein: The second information includes at least one of the following: The task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

23. The method of any one of claims 20 to 22, further comprising: The second communication device receives fourth information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request to obtain a training sample; The second communication device sends training sample information to the first communication device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein: Before the second communication device receives the fourth information sent by the first communication device, the method further includes: The second communication device sends fifth information to the first communication device, where the fifth information is used to request sample alignment; The second communication device sends sixth information to the first communication device, where the sixth information is used to request VFL training.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein: The fifth information carries at least one of the following: The task identification information, training sample information, instruction information for requesting to obtain training sample information, and VFL task information; or, The sixth information carries at least one of the following: The task identification information, VFL training instruction information, temporary identification information of the training device, VFL training filter information, and VFL task information.

26. The method of any one of claims 20 to 25, further comprising: The second communication device receives the training sample information of the training device sent by the first communication device; The second communication device determines aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the training device.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein: The method further comprises: The second communication device sends the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

28. The method of any one of claims 20 to 27, further comprising: The second communication device receives seventh information sent by the first communication device, where the seventh information is used to request VFL training.

29. The method of any one of claims 20 to 27, further comprising at least one of the following: The second communication device receives first feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the first feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the training device; The second communication device sends, to the first communication device, an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the second communication device; The second communication device sends a first loss value or a first gradient value to the first communication device, where the first loss value or the first gradient value is the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device; The second communication device receives fourth feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the fourth feedback information includes a second loss value or a second gradient value determined by the training device.

30. The method of any one of claims 20 to 29, further comprising: The second communication device sends eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following: Instruction information for performing VFL inference, the task identification information, the temporary identification information of the training device, the identification information of the second communication device, and the VFL task information.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein: The method further comprises: The second communication device receives the inference result information sent by the first communication device.

32. A method for processing vertical federated learning (VFL), comprising: The training device performs a VFL operation, wherein the training device is a communication device participating in the VFL; The VFL operation includes the following: receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample; receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device; Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device; The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising: The training device sends the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

34. The method of claim 32 or 33, further comprising at least one of the following: The training device receives second feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the second feedback information carries an intermediate result of the VFL training performed by the first communication device; The training device receives third feedback information sent by the first communication device, where the third feedback information includes the first loss value or the first gradient value determined by the second communication device.

35. The method of any one of claims 32 to 34, further comprising: The training device sends eighth information to the first communication device, where the eighth information carries at least one of the following: Instruction information for instructing to perform VFL inference, task identification information, temporary identification information of the training device, identification information of the second communication device, and VFL task information.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising: The training device receives the inference result information sent by the first communication device.

37. A method for processing vertical federated learning (VFL), comprising: third information sent by the fourth communication device to the first communication device, wherein the third information includes information of the training device; The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising: The fourth communication device receives second information sent by the second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein The second information includes at least one of the following: Task identification information, communication device search request indication information, communication device search filtering information, VFL task information, and interoperation indication information.

40. A vertical federated learning VFL processing device, comprising: The first sending module is configured to send first information to the second communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information; The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising: The first receiving module is configured to receive second information from the second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

42. A vertical federated learning VFL processing device, comprising: The first receiving module is configured to receive first information sent by a first communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Mission identification information, instruction information for finding training equipment, temporary identification information of training equipment, VFL mission information; The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising: The first sending module is configured to send second information to the first communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

44. A vertical federated learning VFL processing device, comprising: An execution module, configured to execute VFL operations, wherein the training device is a communication device participating in VFL; The VFL operation includes the following: receiving fourth information sent by the first communication device, and sending training sample information to the first communication device, where the fourth information is used to request acquisition of the training sample; receiving training sample information of a second communication device sent by the first communication device, and determining aligned training sample information based on the training sample information sent by the second communication device; Sending an intermediate result of the VFL training to the first communication device; The second loss value or the second gradient value determined by the training device is sent to the first communication device.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising: A first sending module is configured to send the aligned training sample information to the first communication device.

46. ​​A vertical federated learning VFL processing device, comprising: a sending module, configured to send third information to the first communication device, wherein the third information includes information of the training device; The training device is a communication device participating in VFL.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, further comprising: The receiving module is configured to receive second information sent by a second communication device, where the second information is used to request execution of a VFL-related communication device search.

48. A device, wherein The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, wherein when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 are implemented, or when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 20 to 31 are implemented, or when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 32 to 36 are implemented, or when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 37 to 39 are implemented.

49. A readable storage medium storing a program or instruction, wherein when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the program or instruction implements the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, or the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 20 to 31, or the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 32 to 36, or the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 37 to 39.

50. A computer program product, wherein the computer program product is stored in a storage medium and is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, or the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 20 to 31, or the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 32 to 36, or the steps of the VFL processing method according to any one of claims 37 to 39.

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