Successive Approximation Coding for Distributed Matrix Multiplication
Coded distributed computing was recently introduced to mitigate the effect of stragglers on distributed computing systems. This paper combines ideas of approximate and coded computing to further accelerate computation. We propose successive approximation coding (SAC) techniques that realize a tradeoff between accuracy and speed, allowing the distributed computing system to produce approximations that increase in accuracy over time. If a sufficient number of compute nodes finish their tasks, SAC exactly recovers the desired computation.