# CSE5313 Coding and information theory for data science (Lecture 25)

## Polynomial Evaluation

Problem formulation:

- We have $K$ datasets $X_1,X_2,\ldots,X_K$.
- Want to compute some polynomial function $f$ of degree $d$ on each dataset.
  - Want $f(X_1),f(X_2),\ldots,f(X_K)$.
- Examples:
  - $X_1,X_2,\ldots,X_K$ are points in $\mathbb{F}^{M\times M}$, and $f(X)=X^8+3X^2+1$.
  - $X_k=(X_k^{(1)},X_k^{(2)})$, both in $\mathbb{F}^{M\times M}$, and $f(X)=X_k^{(1)}X_k^{(2)}$.
  - Gradient computation.

$P$ worker nodes:

- Some are stragglers, i.e., not responsive.
- Some are adversaries, i.e., return erroneous results.
- Privacy: We do not want to expose datasets to worker nodes.

### Lagrange Coded Computing

Let $\ell(z)$ be a polynomial whose evaluations at $\omega_1,\ldots,\omega_{K}$ are $X_1,\ldots,X_K$.

- That is, $\ell(\omega_i)=X_i$ for every $\omega_i\in \mathbb{F}, i\in [K]$.

Some example constructions:

Given $X_1,\ldots,X_K$ with corresponding $\omega_1,\ldots,\omega_K$

- $\ell(z)=\sum_{i=1}^K X_i\ell_i(z)$, where $\ell_i(z)=\prod_{j\in[K],j\neq i} \frac{z-\omega_j}{\omega_i-\omega_j}=\begin{cases} 0 & \text{if } j\neq i \\ 1 & \text{if } j=i \end{cases}$.

Then every $f(X_i)=f(\ell(\omega_i))$ is an evaluation of polynomial $f\circ \ell(z)$ at $\omega_i$.

If the master obtains the composition $h=f\circ \ell$, it can obtain every $f(X_i)=h(\omega_i)$.

Goal: The master wished to obtain the polynomial $h(z)=f(\ell(z))$.

Intuition:

- Encoding is performed by evaluating $\ell(z)$ at $\alpha_1,\ldots,\alpha_P\in \mathbb{F}$, and $P>K$ for redundancy.
- Nodes apply $f$ on an evaluation of $\ell$ and obtain an evaluation of $h$.
- The master receives some potentially noisy evaluations, and finds $h$.
- The master evaluates $h$ at $\omega_1,\ldots,\omega_K$ to obtain $f(X_1),\ldots,f(X_K)$.

### Encoding for Lagrange coded computing

Need polynomial $\ell(z)$ such that:

- $X_k=\ell(\omega_k)$ for every $k\in [K]$.

Having obtained such $\ell$ we let $\tilde{X}_i=\ell(\alpha_i)$ for every $i\in [P]$.

$span{\tilde{X}_1,\tilde{X}_2,\ldots,\tilde{X}_P}=span{\ell_1(x),\ell_2(x),\ldots,\ell_P(x)}$.

Want $X_k=\ell(\omega_k)$ for every $k\in [K]$.

Tool: Lagrange interpolation.

- $\ell_k(z)=\prod_{i\neq k} \frac{z-\omega_j}{\omega_k-\omega_j}$.
- $\ell_k(\omega_k)=1$ and $\ell_k(\omega_k)=0$ for every $j\neq k$.
- $\deg \ell_k(z)=K-1$.

Let $\ell(z)=\sum_{k=1}^K X_k\ell_k(z)$.

- $\deg \ell\leq K-1$.
- $\ell(\omega_k)=X_k$ for every $k\in [K]$.

Let $\tilde{X}_i=\ell(\alpha_i)=\sum_{k=1}^K X_k\ell_k(\alpha_i)$.

Every $\tilde{X}_i$ is a **linear combination** of $X_1,\ldots,X_K$.

$$
(\tilde{X}_1,\tilde{X}_2,\ldots,\tilde{X}_P)=(X_1,\ldots,X_K)\cdot G=(X_1,\ldots,X_K)\begin{bmatrix}
\ell_1(\alpha_1) & \ell_1(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_1(\alpha_P) \\
\ell_2(\alpha_1) & \ell_2(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_2(\alpha_P) \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
\ell_K(\alpha_1) & \ell_K(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_K(\alpha_P)
\end{bmatrix}
$$

This $G$ is called a **Lagrange matrix** with respect to 

- $\omega_1,\ldots,\omega_K$. (interpolation points, rows)
- $\alpha_1,\ldots,\alpha_P$. (evaluation points, columns)

> Basically, a modification of Reed-Solomon code.

### Decoding for Lagrange coded computing

Say the system has $S$ stragglers (erasures) and $A$ adversaries (errors).

The master receives $P-S$ computation results $f(\tilde{X}_{i_1}),\ldots,f(\tilde{X}_{i_{P-S}})$.

- By design, therese are evaluations of $h: h(a_{i_1})=f(\ell(a_{i_1})),\ldots,h(a_{i_{P-S}})=f(\ell(a_{i_{P-S}}))$
- A evaluation are noisy
- $\deg h=\deg f\cdot \deg \ell=(K-1)\deg f$.

Which process enables to interpolate a polynomial from noisy evaluations?

Ree-Solomon (RS) decoding.

Fact: Reed-Solomon decoding succeeds if and only if the number of erasures + 2 $\times$ the number of errors $\leq d-1$.

Imagine $h$ as the "message" in Reed-Solomon code. $[P,(K-1)\deg f +1,P-(K-1)\deg f]_q$.

- Interpolating $h$ is possible if and only if $S+2A\leq (K-1)\deg f-1$.

Once the master interpolates $h$.

- The evaluations $h(\omega_i)=f(\ell(\omega_i))=f(X_i)$ provides the interpolation results.

#### Theorem of Lagrange coded computing

Lagrange coded computing enables to compute $\{f(X_i)\}_{i=1}^K$ for any $f$ at the presence of at most $S$ stragglers and at most $A$ adversaries if

$$
(K-1)\deg f+S+2A+1\leq P
$$

> Interpolation of result does not depend on $P$ (number of worker nodes).

### Privacy for Lagrange coded computing

Currently any size-$K$ group of colluding nodes reveals the entire dataset.

Q: Can an individual node $i$ learn anything about $X_i$?

A: Yes, since $\tilde{X}_i$ is a linear combination of $X_1,\ldots,X_K$ (partial knowledge, a linear combination of private data).

Can we provide **perfect privacy** given that at most $T$ nodes collude?

- That is, $I(X:\tilde{X}_i)=0$ for every $\mathcal{T}\subseteq [P]$ of size at most $T$, where
  - $X=(X_1,\ldots,X_K)$, and 
  - $\tilde{X}_\mathcal{T}=(\tilde{X}_{i_1},\ldots,\tilde{X}_{i_{|\mathcal{T}|}})$.

Solution: Slight change of encoding in LLC.

This only applied to $\mathbb{F}=\mathbb{F}_q$ (no perfect privacy over $\mathbb{R},\mathbb{C}$. No uniform distribution can be defined).

The master chooses

- $T$ keys $Z_{K+1},\ldots,Z_{K+T}$ uniformly at random ($|Z_i|=|X_i|$ for all $i$)
- Interpolation points $\omega_1,\ldots,\omega_{K+T}$.

Find the Lagrange polynomial $\ell(z)$ such that

- $\ell(w_i)=X_i$ for $i\in [K]$
- $\ell(w_{K+j})=Z_j$ for $j\in [T]$.

Lagrange interpolation:

$$
\ell(z)=\sum_{i=1}^{K} X_i\ell_i(z)+\sum_{j=1}^{T} X_{K+j}ell_{K+j}(z)
$$

$$
(\tilde{X}_1,\ldots,\tilde{X}_P)=(X_1,\ldots,X_K,Z_1,\ldots,Z_T)\cdot G
$$

where

$$
G=\begin{bmatrix}
\ell_1(\alpha_1) & \ell_1(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_1(\alpha_P) \\
\ell_2(\alpha_1) & \ell_2(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_2(\alpha_P) \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
\ell_K(\alpha_1) & \ell_K(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_K(\alpha_P) \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
\ell_{K+T}(\alpha_1) & \ell_{K+T}(\alpha_2) & \cdots & \ell_{K+T}(\alpha_P)
\end{bmatrix}
$$

For analysis, we denote $G=\begin{bmatrix}G^{top}\\G^{bot}\end{bmatrix}$, where $G^{top}\in \mathbb{F}^{K\times P}$ and $G^{bot}\in \mathbb{F}^{T\times P}$.

The proof for privacy is the almost the same as ramp scheme.

<details>
<summary>Proof</summary>

We have $(\tilde{X}_1,\ldots \tilde{X}_P)=(X_1,\ldots,X_K)\cdot G^{top}+(Z_1,\ldots,Z_T)\cdot G^{bot}$.

Without loss of generality, $\mathcal{T}=[T]$ is the colluding set.

$\mathcal{T}$ hold $(\tilde{X}_1,\ldots \tilde{X}_P)=(X_1,\ldots,X_K)\cdot G^{top}_\mathcal{T}+(Z_1,\ldots,Z_T)\cdot G^{bot}_\mathcal{top}$.

- $G^{top}_\mathcal{T}$, $G^{bot}_\mathcal{T}$ contain the first $T$ columns of $G^{top}$, $G^{bot}$, respectively.

Note that $G^{top}\in \mathbb{F}^{T\times P}_q$ is MDS, and hence $G^{top}_\mathcal{T}$ is a $T\times T$ invertible matrix.

Since $Z=(Z_1,\ldots,Z_T)$ chosen uniformly random, so $Z\cdot G^{bot}_\mathcal{T}$ is a one-time pad.

Same proof for decoding, we only need $K+1$ item to make the interpolation work.

</details>

## Conclusion

- Theorem: Lagrange Coded Computing is resilient against $S$ stragglers, $A$ adversaries, and $T$ colluding nodes if 
  $$
  P\geq (K+T-1)\deg f+S+2A+1
  $$
  - Privacy (increase with $\deg f$) cost more than the straggler and adversary (increase linearly).
- Caveat: Requires finite field arithmetic!
- Some follow-up works analyzed information leakage over the reals

## Side note for Blockchain

Blockchain: A decentralized system for trust management.

Blockchain maintains a chain of blocks.

- A block contains a set of transactions.
- Transaction = value transfer between clients.
- The chain is replicated on each node.

Periodically, a new block is proposed and appended to each local chain.

- The block must not contain invalid transactions.
- Nodes must agree on proposed block.

Existing systems:

- All nodes perform the same set of tasks.
- Every node must receive every block.

Performance does not scale with number of node

### Improving performance of blockchain

The performance of blockchain is inherently limited by its design.

- All nodes perform the same set of tasks.
- Every node must receive every block.

Idea: Combine blockchain with distributed computing.

- Node tasks should complement each other.

Sharding (notion from databases):

- Nodes are partitioned into groups of equal size.
- Each group maintains a local chain.
- More nodes, more groups, more transactions can be processed.
- Better performance.

### Security Problem

Biggest problem in blockchains: Adversarial (Byzantine) nodes.

- Malicious actors wish to include invalid transactions.

Solution in traditional blockchains: Consensus mechanisms.

- Algorithms for decentralized agreement.
- Tolerates up to $1/3$ Byzantine nodes.

Problem: Consensus conflicts with sharding.

- Traditional consensus mechanisms tolerate $\approx 1/3$ Byzantine nodes.
- If we partition $P$ nodes into $K$ groups, we can tolerate only $P/3K$ node failures.
  - Down from $P/3$ in non-shared systems.

Goal: Solve the consensus problem in sharded systems.

Tool: Coded computing.

### Problem formulation

At epoch $t$ of a shared blockchain system, we have

- $K$ local chain $Y_1^{t-1},\ldots, Y_K^{t-1}$.
- $K$ new blocks $X_1(t),\ldots,X_K(t)$.
- A polynomial verification function $f(X_k(t),Y_k^t)$, which validates $X_k(t)$.

<details>
<summary>Proof</summary>

Balance check function $f(X_k(t),Y_k^t)=\sum_\tau Y_k(\tau)-X_k(t)$.

More commonly, a (polynomial) hash function. Used to:

- Verify the sender's public key.
- Verify the ownership of the transferred funds.

</details>

Need: Apply a polynomial functions on $K$ datasets.

Lagrange coded computing!

### Blockchain with Lagrange coded computing

At epoch $t$:

- A leader is elected (using secure election mechanism).
- The leader receives new blocks $X_1(t),\ldots,X_K(t)$.
- The leader disperses the encoded blocks $\tilde{X}_1(t),\ldots,\tilde{X}_P(t)$ to nodes.
  - Needs secure information dispersal mechanisms.

Every node $i\in [P]$:

- Locally stores a coded chain $\tilde{Y}_i^t$ (encoded using LCC).
- Receives $\tilde{X}_i(t)$.
- Computes $f(\tilde{X}_i(t),\tilde{Y}_i^t)$ and sends to the leader.

The leader decodes to get $\{f(X_i(t),Y_i^t)\}_{i=1}^K$ and disperse securely to nodes.

Node $i$ appends coded block $\tilde{X}_i(t)$ to coded chain $\tilde{Y}_i^t$ (zeroing invalid transactions).

Guarantees security if $P\geq (K+T-1)\deg f+S+2A+1$.

- $A$ adversaries, degree $d$ verification polynomial.

Sharding without sharding:

- Computations are done on (coded) partial chains/blocks.
  - Good performance!
- Since blocks/chains are coded, they are "dispersed" among many nodes.
  - Security problem in sharding solved!
- Since the encoding is done (securely) through a leader, no need to send every block to all nodes.
  - Reduced communication! (main bottleneck).

Novelties:

- First decentralized verification system with less than size of blocks times the number of nodes communication.
- Coded consensus – Reach consensus on coded data.
