Structured variational methods for distributed inference: Convergence analysis and performance-complexity tradeoff

In this paper, the asymptotic performance of a recently proposed distributed inference framework, structured variational methods, is investigated. We first distinguish the intra- and inter-cluster inference algorithms as vertex and edge processes respectively. Their difference is illustrated, and convergence rate is derived for the intra-cluster inference procedure which is based on an edge process. Then, viewed as a mixed vertex-edge process, the overall performance of structured variational methods is characterized via the coupling approach. Tradeoff between complexity and performance of this algorithm is also addressed, which provides insights for network design and analysis.