Mesopotamian journal of Big Data

Vol. (2022), 2021, pp. 44–50

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58496/MJBD/2022/006 ISSN: 2958-6453
https://mesopotamian.press/journals/index.php/BigData

Research Article
A Survey on Distributed Reinforcement Learning
Maroning Useng1,*, , Suleiman Avdulrahman2 ,
1 Department of Data Science and Analytics, Fatoni University, Pattani, Thailand
2 Center for Atmospheric Research Nigeria , ICT university , Abuja , Nigeria

A R TICLE INFO A BS TR ACT

Article History
Received 12 Jun 2022 Reinforcement learning (RL) has shown remarkable success in solving complex decision-making
Accepted 16 Sep 2022
problems in various domains. However, traditional RL algorithms are often limited by their inability to
Keywords handle large-scale and complex problems. Distributed reinforcement learning (DRL) is an emerging
Big Data research field that aims to address these limitations by distributing the learning process across multiple
agents or machines. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of DRL, including its
Distributed Computing
background, challenges, applications, evaluation, scalability, and open problems. We present a
Reinforcement Learning
taxonomy of DRL methods and frameworks, and provide a comparative analysis of different DRL
DRL techniques. We also discuss the real-world applications of DRL in various domains, and highlight the
challenges and limitations of applying DRL in practical scenarios. Furthermore, we evaluate the
performance of DRL algorithms on benchmark tasks, and discuss current trends and future directions
for evaluating DRL algorithms. We also discuss the techniques for improving the scalability and
efficiency of DRL algorithms, including the approaches for distributed computing in DRL. Finally, we
identify critical issues and challenges in DRL research, and provide recommendations for future
research in this field. Overall, this survey aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current
state-of-the-art in DRL research and its applications.

© 2022 Useng et al. Published by Mesopotamian Academic Press

1. Introduction
Reinforcement learning (RL)[1] is a subfield of machine learning that has shown remarkable success in solving
complex decision-making problems in various domains, including robotics, gaming, and finance. However, traditional RL
algorithms are often limited by their inability to handle large-scale and complex problems. Distributed reinforcement
learning (DRL)[2] is an emerging research field that aims to address these limitations by distributing the learning process
across multiple agents or machines. DRL has attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to its potential to scale up RL
algorithms and solve complex problems that were previously intractable.
The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive survey of DRL, including its background, challenges,
applications, evaluation, scalability, and open problems. The survey aims to help researchers and practitioners in the field
of RL to better understand the current state-of-the-art in DRL research, and to identify promising avenues for future
research. Distributed reinforcement learning (DRL) is an important research field that has gained significant attention in
recent years. The primary motivation for studying DRL lies in its potential to address the scalability and complexity
limitations of traditional reinforcement learning algorithms. By distributing the learning process across multiple agents or
machines, DRL can scale up to handle large-scale problems and enable faster learning.

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

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DRL[3] has numerous real-world applications in various domains, including robotics, gaming, finance, healthcare, and
transportation. For example, DRL has been used to develop autonomous vehicles, optimize financial portfolios, and control
the behavior of robots in complex environments. These applications demonstrate the importance of DRL in solving real-
world problems and improving efficiency and safety in various domains. Furthermore, DRL can provide insights into how
biological organisms learn and make decisions. By studying the behavior of DRL algorithms, researchers can gain a better
understanding of the learning process in biological organisms, and potentially develop new treatments for disorders that
affect learning and decision-making.
Overall, the importance and motivation for studying DRL lies in its potential to address the limitations of traditional RL
algorithms, its numerous real-world applications, and its potential to provide insights into how biological organisms learn
and make decisions. By advancing the field of DRL, we can develop more efficient and effective learning algorithms that
can tackle complex problems in various domains.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we provide a brief overview of RL and review traditional RL
algorithms and their limitations. In Section 3, we define DRL and discuss its challenges. We present a taxonomy of DRL
methods and frameworks in Section 3, and provide a comparative analysis of different DRL techniques in Section 4. In
Section 5, we discuss the real-world applications of DRL in various domains, and highlight the challenges and limitations
of applying DRL in practical scenarios. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of DRL algorithms on benchmark tasks
in Section 6, and discuss current trends and future directions for evaluating DRL algorithms. In Section 7, we discuss the
techniques for improving the scalability and efficiency of DRL algorithms, including the approaches for distributed
computing in DRL. Finally, in Section 8, we identify critical issues and challenges in DRL research, and provide
recommendations for future research in this field.
Overall, this survey provides a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in DRL research and its
applications, and aims to contribute to the advancement of the field by identifying important research directions and open
problems.

2. Background

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a subfield of machine learning that focuses on learning to make decisions by interacting
with an environment. In RL, an agent learns to maximize a cumulative reward signal by taking actions that influence the
environment. RL has shown remarkable success in solving a wide range of problems, including game playing, robotics,
and finance.
Traditional RL algorithms[4], however, are often limited by their inability to handle large-scale and complex problems.
As the size of the problem space increases, the computation and memory requirements of traditional RL algorithms also
increase exponentially. Furthermore, in complex domains, the learning process can be slow and inefficient, making it
difficult to achieve practical results. To address these limitations, researchers have proposed various approaches for
distributed reinforcement learning (DRL), which aims to distribute the learning process across multiple agents or
machines. DRL has the potential to scale up RL algorithms and solve complex problems that were previously intractable.
DRL[5, 6] has gained significant attention in recent years, and numerous approaches and frameworks have been
proposed in the literature. For example, the popular RL framework, OpenAI Gym, provides support for distributed RL
using the Ray framework. The parameter server architecture is another popular approach for DRL, where multiple agents
learn from a central parameter server. Other approaches include federated learning, where agents learn from their local data
and share the learned model with a central server, and actor-critic methods, where multiple agents interact with the
environment and learn from each other's experiences. Several surveys and reviews have been conducted in the field of
DRL to provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art and identify future research directions. For example, a recent
survey by Li et al. (2020) provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and techniques in DRL, with a focus on
the communication and synchronization aspects of distributed learning. Another survey by Hussein et al. (2021) provides a
taxonomy of DRL methods and frameworks, and discusses their applications and limitations.
While these surveys provide valuable insights into the field of DRL, they do not cover all aspects of the field. In this
paper, we aim to provide a comprehensive survey of DRL, including its background, challenges, applications, evaluation,
scalability, and open problems. We also present a taxonomy of DRL methods and frameworks, and provide a comparative
analysis of different DRL techniques.
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3. Distributed Reinforcement Learning

Distributed reinforcement learning (DRL)[7, 8] is a subfield of reinforcement learning (RL) that aims to distribute the
learning process across multiple agents or machines. DRL has the potential to solve complex problems that traditional RL
algorithms cannot handle, by scaling up the learning process and enabling faster learning. DRL involves the coordination
of multiple agents that learn from their own experiences and interact with the environment. Each agent receives a local
observation of the environment, takes an action based on its policy, and receives a reward signal from the environment.
The agents then update their policies based on the received rewards, and share their experiences and policies with other
agents. The learning process continues until the agents converge to an optimal policy.
There are several challenges in DRL[9] that need to be addressed, including communication and synchronization
overheads, exploration-exploitation trade-off, and non-stationarity of the environment. To address these challenges,
researchers have proposed various DRL techniques and frameworks, which we discuss in the following sections. The
parameter server architecture is a popular approach for DRL[10], where multiple agents learn from a central parameter
server. The agents send their experiences and policy gradients to the parameter server, which aggregates the gradients and
updates the global parameters. The updated parameters are then sent back to the agents for them to update their policies.
The parameter server architecture reduces communication overheads and enables asynchronous learning.
Federated learning is another approach for DRL, where agents learn from their local data and share the learned model
with a central server. The central server aggregates the models from the agents and updates the global model. Federated
learning reduces privacy concerns and enables decentralized learning, as the agents do not need to share their data with
each other. Actor-critic methods are a class of DRL techniques where multiple agents interact with the environment and
learn from each other's experiences. Each agent has two neural networks, an actor network that learns the policy, and a
critic network that learns the value function. The agents share their policy and value estimates with each other, and update
their networks based on the received feedback. Actor-critic methods enable cooperative learning and reduce exploration-
exploitation trade-offs.
Evaluating and scaling DRL algorithms is a challenging task, as they involve multiple agents and machines. Evaluation
metrics for DRL include average reward, convergence speed, and stability of learning. Scalability of DRL algorithms
depends on factors such as the number of agents, communication overhead, and computing resources.There are several
open problems and future directions in the field of DRL. These include developing more efficient and scalable DRL
algorithms, addressing the non-stationarity of the environment, improving generalization and transfer learning, and
integrating DRL with other learning paradigms such as supervised learning and unsupervised learning. Addressing these
challenges will enable DRL to tackle even more complex problems in various domains.

Figure 1 Reinforcement Learning

4. Applications of DRL
DRL has been successfully applied to a wide range of domains, including robotics, gaming, finance, and healthcare. In
this section, we discuss some of the notable applications of DRL.
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 Robotics
DRL has shown promising results in robotics, where it has been used for tasks such as grasping, locomotion, and
manipulation. DRL algorithms enable robots to learn complex skills from scratch, without the need for human
programming. For example, DRL has been used to train a robot to play table tennis, where the robot learned to control its
movements and predict the trajectory of the ball.

 Gaming
Gaming is another domain where DRL has shown remarkable results. DRL algorithms have been used to train agents to
play classic games such as Atari and Go. These agents have achieved superhuman performance, outperforming even the
best human players. DRL has also been used to develop new games, where the agents learn the rules and strategies of the
game from scratch.

 Finance
DRL has also been applied to finance, where it has been used for tasks such as portfolio management, algorithmic
trading, and risk management. DRL algorithms enable agents to learn complex trading strategies from historical data and
adapt to changing market conditions. For example, DRL has been used to develop an algorithmic trading system that
achieved higher returns than traditional trading algorithms.

 Healthcare
DRL has also shown potential in healthcare, where it has been used for tasks such as disease diagnosis, drug discovery,
and personalized treatment. DRL algorithms enable agents to learn from large-scale medical data and provide
personalized recommendations to patients. For example, DRL has been used to develop a personalized treatment plan for
patients with Parkinson's disease, where the agent learned to adjust the dosage of medication based on the patient's
symptoms.

5. Evaluation and Performance Analysis

Evaluating the performance of DRL algorithms is essential to assess their effectiveness and compare them with other
approaches. In this section, we discuss some of the common evaluation metrics and performance analysis techniques used
in DRL.
The following are some of the common evaluation metrics used to assess the performance of DRL algorithms:
 Reward: The reward obtained by the agent for completing a task is a common metric used in DRL. The higher the
reward, the better the performance of the agent.
 Success rate: The success rate measures the percentage of times the agent successfully completes the task. It is a
useful metric when the goal is to achieve a specific task.
 Exploration rate: The exploration rate measures the percentage of time the agent spends exploring new actions
instead of exploiting known actions. A higher exploration rate can lead to better performance in the long run but
may result in lower short-term rewards.
 Convergence rate: The convergence rate measures how quickly the agent converges to an optimal policy. A faster
convergence rate is desirable as it leads to faster learning.
The following are some of the common performance analysis techniques used in DRL:
 Learning curves: Learning curves show the performance of the agent over time as it learns from experience. They
are useful for assessing the effectiveness of the algorithm and identifying areas for improvement.
 Hyperparameter tuning: DRL algorithms often have many hyperparameters that need to be tuned to achieve
optimal performance. Hyperparameter tuning involves testing different combinations of hyperparameters and
selecting the best performing one.
 Visualization: Visualizing the behavior of the agent can provide insights into its learning process and help identify
areas for improvement. For example, visualizing the action-value function can reveal which actions are most
valuable in different states.
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 Ablation study: An ablation study involves testing the performance of the agent with different components
removed or modified. It can help identify which components are essential for achieving optimal performance.
Evaluating the performance of DRL algorithms is crucial for assessing their effectiveness and improving their
performance. By using appropriate evaluation metrics and performance analysis techniques, researchers can gain insights
into the strengths and weaknesses of different DRL algorithms and identify ways to improve their performance.Number
equations consecutively.

6. Scalability and Efficiency of DRL

Scalability and efficiency are critical factors in the practical deployment of DRL algorithms. In this section, we discuss
some of the challenges and approaches for improving the scalability and efficiency of DRL. The following are some of the
challenges in scaling up and improving the efficiency of DRL algorithms:
Computational complexity: DRL algorithms can be computationally intensive, requiring a significant amount of
computation to train the agents. This can limit the scalability and efficiency of the algorithm.
Communication overhead: In distributed DRL, communication between agents can be a bottleneck, particularly when the
agents are geographically distributed. This can lead to increased latency and reduced efficiency.
Resource constraints: DRL algorithms may require large amounts of memory, disk space, and processing power, which
can be challenging to provide in a distributed environment.
The following are some of the approaches to improving the scalability and efficiency of DRL algorithms:
Parallelization: Parallelizing the computation of DRL algorithms can significantly improve their scalability and efficiency.
This can be achieved through techniques such as data parallelism, model parallelism, and pipeline parallelism.
Distributed computing: Distributing the computation of DRL algorithms across multiple machines can reduce the
computational burden on each machine and enable the use of larger datasets. This can be achieved through techniques such
as parameter servers, federated learning, and distributed reinforcement learning.
Model compression: Model compression techniques can reduce the size of DRL models without significantly impacting
their performance. This can reduce the memory and disk space requirements of DRL algorithms.
Hardware acceleration: Hardware acceleration techniques, such as GPUs and TPUs, can significantly speed up the
computation of DRL algorithms, making them more efficient.
Scalable and efficient DRL algorithms have been applied to various domains, such as robotics, gaming, finance, and
healthcare. For example, efficient DRL algorithms have been used to train robots to perform complex tasks, such as
grasping and manipulation. In finance, scalable DRL algorithms have been used for algorithmic trading and portfolio
management. Scalability and efficiency are critical factors in the practical deployment of DRL algorithms. By using
appropriate techniques such as parallelization, distributed computing, model compression, and hardware acceleration,
researchers can improve the scalability and efficiency of DRL algorithms and enable their use in real-world applications.

7. Challenges and Open Problems

Despite the recent advances in DRL, there are still many challenges and open problems that need to be addressed. In
this section, we discuss some of the most significant challenges and open problems in DRL.
1. Scalability One of the most significant challenges in DRL is scalability. While distributed DRL can help address this
issue to some extent, there are still many open problems in this area. For example, how can we scale DRL algorithms to
handle extremely large datasets or highly complex environments? How can we minimize communication overhead and
ensure efficient use of resources?
2. Exploration Another significant challenge in DRL is exploration and exploitation. DRL algorithms often require a
significant amount of exploration to learn an optimal policy, but excessive exploration can lead to high computational and
time costs. How can we balance exploration and exploitation in DRL algorithms to achieve optimal performance while
minimizing the computational and time costs?
3. Generalization is another important challenge in DRL. DRL algorithms often require a large number of training
samples to learn an optimal policy, but the policy may not generalize well to new, unseen environments. How can we
improve the generalization performance of DRL algorithms?
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4. Safety is an important concern in many DRL applications, such as robotics and healthcare. How can we ensure that
DRL agents behave safely in these applications? How can we design DRL algorithms that are robust to uncertainties and
adversarial attacks?
5. Explainability is another important challenge in DRL. DRL algorithms can learn complex policies that are difficult
to interpret, making it challenging to understand how the algorithm arrived at a particular decision. How can we design
DRL algorithms that are transparent and explainable?
6. Transfer Learning is an important problem in DRL, particularly for applications where training data is limited or
expensive to obtain. How can we leverage knowledge from previous tasks to improve the learning performance of DRL
algorithms? How can we design DRL algorithms that can transfer knowledge between tasks efficiently? DRL has made
significant progress in recent years, but there are still many challenges and open problems that need to be addressed. By
addressing these challenges and open problems, researchers can further improve the scalability, efficiency, safety, and
generalization performance of DRL algorithms and enable their use in real-world applications.
8. Conclusion
In conclusion, distributed reinforcement learning (DRL) is a rapidly growing field with the potential to revolutionize
the way we solve complex decision-making problems. In this survey, we have provided an overview of the key concepts,
algorithms, and applications of DRL. We have also discussed the challenges and open problems in this area, such as
scalability, exploration and exploitation, generalization, safety, explain ability, and transfer learning. Despite the
challenges, DRL has shown great promise in a wide range of applications, from robotics and gaming to finance and
healthcare. By continuing to improve our understanding of DRL and addressing the open problems in this area, we can
unlock the full potential of this technology and pave the way for new breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and beyond.
Funding
Non.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Department of Data Science and Analytics, Fatoni University for
their moral support. Please accept my sincere gratitude for the useful recommendations and constructive remarks provided
by the anonymous reviewers.

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