RSP-gcForest: A Distributed Deep Forest via Random Sample Partition

Deep Forest, a powerful alternative to deep neural networks, has gained much attention due to its advantages, such as low complexity, minimal hyperparameter requirements, and strong application performance. In the current big data environment, where data volumes and model complexities are growing rapidly, distributed computing is needed to increase computational efficiency. Recently, a distributed deep forest approach, called BLB-gcForest (Bag of Little Bootstraps-gcForest), has been successful in reducing training instances within cascade forests, combining BLB and granularity segmentation, thus improving the computational efficiency and scalability of distributed deep forests. However, it still transmits the entire data set between layers and requires double sampling with BLB, limiting the amount of data and the scalability of resource utilization. This paper introduces a novel algorithm, RSP-gcForest, based on Random Sample Partition (RSP) to improve distributed deep forests computational efficiency and scalability. RSP-gcForest uses block-level samples that replace the full dataset, significantly reducing interlayer instance transmission and prediction within cascade forests. Additionally, RSP blocks are integrated with the segmentation granularity of cascade forests for ensemble learning, effectively addressing computational efficiency and resource constraints. We conducted experiments on four extensive datasets using Spark and evaluated performance across five key metrics. The results clearly show that RSP-gcForest, while maintaining high classification quality, surpasses state-of-the-art methods in terms of computational efficiency and resource utilization. Furthermore, it achieves superior load balancing, demonstrating its potential as a powerful tool in big data and distributed computing.