Sparsity-Aware Edge Caching in IoVs with Asynchronous Federated and Deep Reinforcement Learning

Sparsity-Aware Edge Caching in IoVs with Asynchronous Federated and Deep Reinforcement Learning | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sparsity-Aware Edge Caching in IoVs with Asynchronous Federated and Deep Reinforcement Learning Jing Gao, Jiahui Chen, Yanqi Huan, Liuyang Wu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8300312/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The edge content caching technology of the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) is a key technology to reduce the latency of content access. However, within the hotspot area, with a large number of content access requests generated by vehicle users, the rapid changes in user interests and the explosive dissemination of high-value content have led to limited transmission delay. Therefore, to reduce the delay, accurately predicting and timely updating popular content as well as exploring high-value content have become critical yet challenging. To solve this problem, a sparsity-aware edge caching (SAEC) scheme is proposed. Firstly, aiming at the sparsity problem of VU data, a sparse self-encoder based on self-attentive (SAE-ELA) model is proposed. By extracting the potential features of sparse data of vehicle users and capturing the historical preference associations of users, the accuracy of content prediction was improved. Secondly, this paper adopts the asynchronous federated learning (AFL) framework to solve the problem of low cache update efficiency, thereby shortening the model training time to improve the real-time performance of content update. Finally, in order to solve the problem of insufficient exploration of potential high-value content, a Dueling Deep Q-network based on Intrinsic Curiosity Module (ICM-DDQN) algorithm is proposed. By organically combining traditional value function learning with curiosity driven active exploration, the exploration efficiency of cached content has been improved, thereby reducing the Content Transmission Delay (CTD). Simulation results show that the proposed SAEC is significantly superior to the existing methods in terms of Cache Hit Ratio(CHR) and CTD. Edge Caching Asynchronous Federated Learning Sparse self-encoder Internet of Vehicles Deep Reinforcement Learning Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 18 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 27 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 10 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 26 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 08 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 07 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8300312","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":566381454,"identity":"0f4434b1-6d63-4b0a-b0a8-e1a9130e0531","order_by":0,"name":"Jing Gao","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACgwQGBjkom5l4LcakaQGBxAaitci7Hz5Q8HBHbfp29h7DGwwV1okN7GcP4NVieCYtwSDxzPHcnT1njC0YzqQnNvDkJeDX0pBjYJDYdix3w40cMwnGtsOJDRI8Bvi19L8Ba0k3uP8GqOUfEVrkJcC21CQY3OABamkgQouBxDOgX9oOGG44k1ZskXAs3biNJ4eALf3Jxwx/ttXJGxw/vPHGhxpr2X72MwRsOcDABlRxGMyRSAASbHjVg2xpYGB+wMBQB9FCSPUoGAWjYBSMTAAAcK9HEQsouksAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jing","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":566381455,"identity":"14149d4a-6694-4674-9286-2898436fc6ca","order_by":1,"name":"Jiahui Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiahui","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":566381457,"identity":"5600985f-fb73-4bd6-8a9b-c7b9bb1b93a4","order_by":2,"name":"Yanqi Huan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yanqi","middleName":"","lastName":"Huan","suffix":""},{"id":566381462,"identity":"4de6403b-3cfd-4e3c-bea6-870190a8bd83","order_by":3,"name":"Liuyang Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liuyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-07 14:23:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8300312/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8300312/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":99315652,"identity":"efe903ae-530c-4b22-af45-c5807dd0ea27","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:12","extension":"json","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5720,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"d4ad0033ec494f49a981c30fe292eea3.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/6c918a828a9daab6165c9c66.json"},{"id":99315041,"identity":"a91856f0-3c73-410d-b1b9-5fbc22ff5d8a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:13","extension":"eps","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":3744097,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"2.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/706e136ab92265b73027373f.eps"},{"id":99135281,"identity":"4b3d00d1-f2fb-4efa-8351-6179488f770c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:01","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":319748,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AFLtrainingepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/3c13f95d205d85ba8ce9a06b.pdf"},{"id":99315396,"identity":"368f5558-e3b5-4bf4-91b7-812d9426bc9e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:53","extension":"eps","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1431218,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AFLtraining.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/ce8650055553ba96c2812fd5.eps"},{"id":99316375,"identity":"4c204882-29ca-491b-a25c-03592c3976c8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:28:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":95041,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fedcacheratioepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/cad360068916b4f702ec118c.pdf"},{"id":99315399,"identity":"d27b4b77-f64c-4ca5-a6fb-7230ddbe778c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:53","extension":"eps","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":489329,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fedcacheratio.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/3035cf59dc54e3d2fec7e186.eps"},{"id":99314806,"identity":"e8ac6e5d-dc99-4d2a-8019-0d927944187e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:23:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":93818,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fedtimeepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/c45ed4ae20fa6d479dd1b9ed.pdf"},{"id":99315902,"identity":"97423664-7ab7-4ebc-b701-0f02b040eeb4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:27","extension":"eps","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":485571,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fedtime.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/8c18b04060cd148df2b9432c.eps"},{"id":99315540,"identity":"edcaf2d5-11a1-4ae4-81be-dbfaf1fe6412","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":191242,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fourcacheratioepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/ff681e027324b3473ea6c3b4.pdf"},{"id":99135308,"identity":"1fee206e-b98c-496c-b55e-b5de4b6d5033","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"eps","order_by":9,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":775524,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fourcacheratio.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/2ab036640cca0742f839a29f.eps"},{"id":99315136,"identity":"084c3299-6349-498c-a9d6-fbcd7f7f3f59","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":104371,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fourtransdelayepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/243416f856f2514fe4e73d7d.pdf"},{"id":99316219,"identity":"86378451-84bd-4a9e-b9bd-ea43551b9337","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:54","extension":"eps","order_by":11,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":503084,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Fourtransdelay.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/04050c9fdd1f9871a345dbe1.eps"},{"id":99315677,"identity":"4cba02bc-23c9-4ce5-adb7-2b010efe7815","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:15","extension":"pdf","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":594878,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ICMDuelingDQNepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/426908a29013b8c96f183f45.pdf"},{"id":99315313,"identity":"541fb3d5-1553-4b0d-be3f-ffb133c0dbe5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:47","extension":"eps","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2643077,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ICMDuelingDQN.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/4ea767829c899d1d8ff16e08.eps"},{"id":99314793,"identity":"9dd79905-04ae-4e75-9afe-7dcb2dc2cc84","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:23:10","extension":"eps","order_by":14,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":150757,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Systemmodel.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/e15cf8983e3adc2c85b8f828.eps"},{"id":99135307,"identity":"95f50f0f-83c1-43d9-931b-88fb8f4fc84f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":15,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":85473,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Twocacheratioepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/1fa81bb73e7f873da8ff78e4.pdf"},{"id":99316975,"identity":"1225f4a6-c2b3-41a6-9b21-1e26238395dd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:29:30","extension":"eps","order_by":16,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":443198,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Twocacheratio.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/42fd35363f9dd5f303610de6.eps"},{"id":99135320,"identity":"c5c1576c-7d1b-465b-8181-e7b9e34d6481","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":17,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":87454,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Twotransdelayepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/a1c40d13a6d8b3dfc2001a74.pdf"},{"id":99316490,"identity":"e6e91163-b33a-43c6-83cc-6b68d567ada4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:28:31","extension":"eps","order_by":18,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":450508,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Twotransdelay.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/0b3c6a4985814ca9466c680c.eps"},{"id":99135311,"identity":"dc75fba1-6b54-49c3-9705-ce4fd3655326","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":19,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2193258,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"clustercomputing.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/46c71853f176be685ef3c3f9.pdf"},{"id":99315936,"identity":"8ecb5e1b-4f10-4c1a-8fef-acd3f7adecaf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":20,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":53994,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"coverletter.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/bc576cb5517e1095d7e09b44.pdf"},{"id":99315743,"identity":"361bb9a8-55a5-47f7-9879-f8f8504060da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":21,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":31791,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"densityepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/76dfb6b2907d9b070b5b4499.pdf"},{"id":99135300,"identity":"60922d20-bde1-4ffa-8a0b-a76e448b8171","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:03","extension":"eps","order_by":22,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":282181,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"density.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/ab92a425fe03f31296633b90.eps"},{"id":99316485,"identity":"f5ff8f25-0c55-4c52-910d-5685f5cc809d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:28:31","extension":"eps","order_by":23,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2890,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"empty.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/8b04cf6cec817e135442de47.eps"},{"id":99135312,"identity":"b819954c-35d5-4c64-ba5b-6c79e7a11e3a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":24,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":3086,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"figepsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/cb5842f0734d2bea86bd41e0.pdf"},{"id":99315914,"identity":"ea69f504-16e2-4542-b440-6af21648ccce","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:27","extension":"eps","order_by":25,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":91593,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"fig.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/6b372e56df632790fd545fe6.eps"},{"id":99314834,"identity":"5224c0a9-56cc-4388-a9be-d0e591b208a0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:23:38","extension":"pdf","order_by":26,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":72516,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"p1epsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/4e4a518f006121d7a1a3f0d3.pdf"},{"id":99135314,"identity":"91fa6a77-c77d-4a3b-b456-fdb4d4653465","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"eps","order_by":27,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":6280532,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"p1.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/c3327bb1af4c6bbe60a383fb.eps"},{"id":99316690,"identity":"31cc18e5-3ce1-4f50-b80f-dd7cd9033002","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:29:01","extension":"pdf","order_by":28,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":157549,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"p3epsconvertedto.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/e17f7ae510580d2a28769efc.pdf"},{"id":99315129,"identity":"11636645-ef03-4ed5-b830-ac5af7855a46","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:27","extension":"eps","order_by":29,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2012705,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"p3.eps","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/8674faa446337fbcdaab6aa9.eps"},{"id":99314593,"identity":"77ea063d-b530-445d-9b59-f4031b004fbf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:21:56","extension":"aux","order_by":30,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":11348,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.aux","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/f3a9f64f9944123997f27194.aux"},{"id":99315291,"identity":"ed65bfb5-df3d-4f77-a830-bad442ef54e1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:46","extension":"bbl","order_by":31,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":16916,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.bbl","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/c5267779932b26c3d0cd8638.bbl"},{"id":99315285,"identity":"e32b4540-05e7-44a8-8026-757466d5e2d2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:26:45","extension":"bcf","order_by":32,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":108481,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.bcf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/fe492c90872173c8bffbad15.bcf"},{"id":99135301,"identity":"d9d3e558-d52a-4a73-9121-a7439a0af43b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:03","extension":"blg","order_by":33,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2372,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.blg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/1dff909bfe2f99df2babe541.blg"},{"id":99314621,"identity":"dbf1c6fd-4cc8-4096-8504-8955d5330d7a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:22:02","extension":"log","order_by":34,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":48016,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.log","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/db253d68856085f2c2163971.log"},{"id":99315587,"identity":"5a61ec21-576c-4fab-83bd-c30487477b84","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:27:05","extension":"out","order_by":35,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5079,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.out","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/abc9ca04d942fc50de2cf0a8.out"},{"id":99135293,"identity":"78ea088b-99de-4ea9-92bf-094dadd0ea89","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":36,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2163532,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/90ee2434c32eb5a3674b06ec.pdf"},{"id":99135306,"identity":"fb427f00-f4c6-4ee0-ae92-691d69ccb309","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"gz","order_by":37,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":205353,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.synctex.gz","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/06bd243521e77eddedadbea4.gz"},{"id":99135299,"identity":"c3d176b2-de96-443e-bacf-1372ccf4b161","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:03","extension":"cls","order_by":38,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":55857,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snjnl.cls","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/43e50971bf81990938a70a65.cls"},{"id":99135317,"identity":"e1ecbe67-d940-4260-b00a-74ecd03fdffa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-29 06:26:04","extension":"bst","order_by":39,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":64164,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snmathphysnum.bst","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1/398c4e61c8280e215423a612.bst"},{"id":99788109,"identity":"11fb5a6b-7541-4306-bc29-989bf2b741e6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 12:44:53","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2116596,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"clustercomputing.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8300312/v1_covered_88b05afe-ab86-4c37-a2ed-8aabc08dc733.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Sparsity-Aware Edge Caching in IoVs with Asynchronous Federated and Deep Reinforcement Learning","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"cluster-computing","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Cluster Computing](https://www.springer.com/journal/10586)","snPcode":"10586","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10586/3","title":"Cluster Computing","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Edge Caching, Asynchronous Federated Learning, Sparse self-encoder, Internet of Vehicles, Deep Reinforcement Learning","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8300312/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8300312/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The edge content caching technology of the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) is a key technology to reduce the latency of content access. However, within the hotspot area, with a large number of content access requests generated by vehicle users, the rapid changes in user interests and the explosive dissemination of high-value content have led to limited transmission delay. Therefore, to reduce the delay, accurately predicting and timely updating popular content as well as exploring high-value content have become critical yet challenging. To solve this problem, a sparsity-aware edge caching (SAEC) scheme is proposed. Firstly, aiming at the sparsity problem of VU data, a sparse self-encoder based on self-attentive (SAE-ELA) model is proposed. By extracting the potential features of sparse data of vehicle users and capturing the historical preference associations of users, the accuracy of content prediction was improved. Secondly, this paper adopts the asynchronous federated learning (AFL) framework to solve the problem of low cache update efficiency, thereby shortening the model training time to improve the real-time performance of content update. Finally, in order to solve the problem of insufficient exploration of potential high-value content, a Dueling Deep Q-network based on Intrinsic Curiosity Module (ICM-DDQN) algorithm is proposed. By organically combining traditional value function learning with curiosity driven active exploration, the exploration efficiency of cached content has been improved, thereby reducing the Content Transmission Delay (CTD). Simulation results show that the proposed SAEC is significantly superior to the existing methods in terms of Cache Hit Ratio(CHR) and CTD.","manuscriptTitle":"Sparsity-Aware Edge Caching in IoVs with Asynchronous Federated and Deep Reinforcement Learning","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-29 06:25:56","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8300312/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-05-18T14:41:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-27T12:07:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-20T12:07:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"216957177984516016887167246598283396552","date":"2026-04-14T12:08:01+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"192004619684592404394985730384752549537","date":"2026-04-13T06:51:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-11T00:48:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"45408068649588795297089189968829140134","date":"2025-12-26T23:16:29+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-26T11:13:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-26T11:11:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-12-08T15:08:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Cluster Computing","date":"2025-12-07T14:07:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"cluster-computing","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Cluster Computing](https://www.springer.com/journal/10586)","snPcode":"10586","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10586/3","title":"Cluster Computing","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"105ae450-8fec-4c55-9ec5-d3f652e77f6a","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 29th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-05-18T14:41:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"in-revision","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-18T14:54:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-29 06:25:56","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8300312","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8300312","identity":"rs-8300312","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}