{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4406321575","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/jiot.2025.3528955","title":"Diffusion Models as Network Optimizers: Explorations and Analysis","display_name":"Diffusion Models as Network Optimizers: Explorations and Analysis","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-01-13","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4406321575","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/jiot.2025.3528955"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/jiot.2025.3528955","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/jiot.2025.3528955","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2480266640","display_name":"IEEE Internet of Things Journal","issn_l":"2327-4662","issn":["2327-4662","2372-2541"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Internet of Things Journal","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5111135474","display_name":"Ruihuai Liang","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ruihuai Liang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5028362101","display_name":"Bo Yang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6275-8904"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Bo Yang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6275-8904","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5112746561","display_name":"Pengyu Chen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2981-0149"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Pengyu Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5054694230","display_name":"Xian\u2010Jin Li","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0708-6957"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xianjin Li","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5009277601","display_name":"Yifan Xue","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7818-0916"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yifan Xue","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100701166","display_name":"Zhiwen Yu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9905-3238"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhiwen Yu","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9905-3238","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100645992","display_name":"Xuelin Cao","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6221-0754"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I149594827","display_name":"Xidian University","ror":"https://ror.org/05s92vm98","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I149594827"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xuelin Cao","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Cyber Engineering, Xidian University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6221-0754","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Cyber Engineering, Xidian University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I149594827"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100456327","display_name":"Yan Zhang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8561-5092"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I17145004","display_name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","ror":"https://ror.org/01y0j0j86","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I184942183","display_name":"University of Oslo","ror":"https://ror.org/01xtthb56","country_code":"NO","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I184942183"]}],"countries":["CN","NO"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yan Zhang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8561-5092","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi&#x2019;an, Shaanxi, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I17145004"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I184942183"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5056145687","display_name":"M\u00e9rouane Debbah","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8941-8080"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I176601375","display_name":"Khalifa University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/05hffr360","country_code":"AE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I176601375"]}],"countries":["AE"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"M\u00e9rouane Debbah","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer and Information Engineering, KU 6G Research Center, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE","Department of Computer and Information Engineering, KU6G. Research Center, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8941-8080","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer and Information Engineering, KU 6G Research Center, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I176601375"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer and Information Engineering, KU6G. Research Center, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I176601375"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5042307561","display_name":"H. Vincent Poor","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2062-131X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20089843","display_name":"Princeton University","ror":"https://ror.org/00hx57361","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20089843"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"H. Vincent Poor","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA","Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University, NJ, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2062-131X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20089843"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University, NJ, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20089843"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5060020877","display_name":"Chau Yuen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9307-2120"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I172675005","display_name":"Nanyang Technological University","ror":"https://ror.org/02e7b5302","country_code":"SG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"]}],"countries":["SG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chau Yuen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Jurong West, Singapore","School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9307-2120","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Jurong West, Singapore","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":5,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":26.9818,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":23,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.99712029,"is_in_top_1_percent":true,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":99,"max":100},"biblio":{"volume":"12","issue":"10","first_page":"13183","last_page":"13193"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11195","display_name":"Simulation Techniques and Applications","score":0.3084000051021576,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1803","display_name":"Management Science and Operations Research"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/18","display_name":"Decision Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11195","display_name":"Simulation Techniques and Applications","score":0.3084000051021576,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1803","display_name":"Management Science and Operations Research"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/18","display_name":"Decision Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.7246434688568115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/diffusion","display_name":"Diffusion","score":0.612881600856781}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7246434688568115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C69357855","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163214","display_name":"Diffusion","level":2,"score":0.612881600856781},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C97355855","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11473","display_name":"Thermodynamics","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C121332964","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q413","display_name":"Physics","level":0,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/jiot.2025.3528955","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/jiot.2025.3528955","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2480266640","display_name":"IEEE Internet of Things Journal","issn_l":"2327-4662","issn":["2327-4662","2372-2541"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Internet of Things Journal","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:dr.ntu.edu.sg:10356/217212","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10356/217212","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306402609","display_name":"DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I172675005","host_organization_name":"Nanyang Technological University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Journal Article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G425168253","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"61960206008","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":65,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2920342344","https://openalex.org/W2945744693","https://openalex.org/W2990436653","https://openalex.org/W2990467641","https://openalex.org/W3011091971","https://openalex.org/W3023078779","https://openalex.org/W3047516387","https://openalex.org/W3049663264","https://openalex.org/W3086917883","https://openalex.org/W3153077321","https://openalex.org/W3159145702","https://openalex.org/W3167603521","https://openalex.org/W3173386267","https://openalex.org/W4306733841","https://openalex.org/W4385284018","https://openalex.org/W4385453555","https://openalex.org/W4386385565","https://openalex.org/W4386766970","https://openalex.org/W4387195417","https://openalex.org/W4387415166","https://openalex.org/W4390659130","https://openalex.org/W4390874530","https://openalex.org/W4391019625","https://openalex.org/W4391468387","https://openalex.org/W4392152263","https://openalex.org/W4392175466","https://openalex.org/W4394589826","https://openalex.org/W4396523471","https://openalex.org/W4396817538","https://openalex.org/W4399121769","https://openalex.org/W4400112999","https://openalex.org/W4400488290","https://openalex.org/W4400905618","https://openalex.org/W4401416311","https://openalex.org/W4401726109","https://openalex.org/W4403332111","https://openalex.org/W4403390264","https://openalex.org/W4404562994","https://openalex.org/W4406311637","https://openalex.org/W6679045638","https://openalex.org/W6741002519","https://openalex.org/W6765775151","https://openalex.org/W6779823529","https://openalex.org/W6783713337","https://openalex.org/W6795288823","https://openalex.org/W6798447524","https://openalex.org/W6840815571","https://openalex.org/W6845605226","https://openalex.org/W6849897326","https://openalex.org/W6851069163","https://openalex.org/W6853024844","https://openalex.org/W6853614637","https://openalex.org/W6854999051","https://openalex.org/W6855844941","https://openalex.org/W6857617092","https://openalex.org/W6858146536","https://openalex.org/W6862242536","https://openalex.org/W6865371161","https://openalex.org/W6869060461","https://openalex.org/W6870158805","https://openalex.org/W6870319273","https://openalex.org/W6872134453","https://openalex.org/W6873520764","https://openalex.org/W6873665230","https://openalex.org/W6880502136"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4391375266","https://openalex.org/W2899084033","https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2390279801","https://openalex.org/W4391913857","https://openalex.org/W2358668433","https://openalex.org/W4396701345","https://openalex.org/W2376932109","https://openalex.org/W2001405890","https://openalex.org/W4396696052"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Network":[0],"optimization":[1,48,170],"is":[2,58,66],"a":[3,34,67,91,150],"fundamental":[4],"challenge":[5],"in":[6,55,60,107],"the":[7,42,51,82,99,178,186,194],"Internet":[8],"of":[9,53,70,85,98,101,180,196],"Things":[10],"(IoT)":[11],"network,":[12],"often":[13],"characterized":[14],"by":[15],"complex":[16],"features":[17],"that":[18],"make":[19],"it":[20],"difficult":[21],"to":[22,38,44,134,154,188,199],"solve":[23],"these":[24,47,130],"problems.":[25,49,171],"Recently,":[26],"generative":[27,86,102],"diffusion":[28,144],"models":[29,103,106,146],"(GDMs)":[30],"have":[31],"emerged":[32],"as":[33,117,182],"promising":[35],"new":[36],"approach":[37],"network":[39,108,169],"optimization,":[40],"with":[41],"potential":[43],"directly":[45],"address":[46],"However,":[50],"application":[52],"GDMs":[54,116,181],"this":[56,77,112],"field":[57],"still":[59],"its":[61],"early":[62],"stages,":[63],"and":[64,73,95,148,177,192,205],"there":[65],"noticeable":[68],"lack":[69],"theoretical":[71,93],"research":[72],"empirical":[74],"findings.":[75],"In":[76],"study,":[78],"we":[79,89,114,141,184],"first":[80],"explore":[81],"intrinsic":[83],"characteristics":[84],"models.":[87],"Next,":[88],"provide":[90,203],"concise":[92],"proof":[94],"intuitive":[96],"demonstration":[97],"advantages":[100],"over":[104],"discriminative":[105],"optimization.":[109],"Based":[110],"on":[111,159],"exploration,":[113],"implement":[115],"optimizers":[118],"aimed":[119],"at":[120,207],"learning":[121],"high-quality":[122],"solution":[123],"distributions":[124,131],"for":[125],"given":[126],"inputs,":[127],"sampling":[128],"from":[129],"during":[132],"inference":[133],"approximate":[135],"or":[136],"achieve":[137],"optimal":[138,200],"solutions.":[139,201],"Specifically,":[140],"utilize":[142],"denoising":[143],"probabilistic":[145],"(DDPMs)":[147],"employ":[149],"classifier-free":[151],"guidance":[152,157],"mechanism":[153],"manage":[155],"conditional":[156],"based":[158],"input":[160],"parameters.":[161],"We":[162,202],"conduct":[163],"extensive":[164],"experiments":[165],"across":[166],"three":[167],"challenging":[168],"By":[172],"investigating":[173],"various":[174],"model":[175],"configurations":[176],"principles":[179],"optimizers,":[183],"demonstrate":[185],"ability":[187],"overcome":[189],"prediction":[190],"errors":[191],"validate":[193],"convergence":[195],"generated":[197],"solutions":[198],"code":[204],"data":[206],"<uri":[208],"xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"":[209],"xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\">https://github.com/qiyu3816/DiffSG</uri>.":[210]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":8},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":15}],"updated_date":"2026-07-15T18:14:33.161393","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}