Deep Q-Learning-Based Intelligent Scheduling for ETL Optimization in Heterogeneous Data Environments
Kangning Gao, Y. Charlie Hu, Cong Nie, Wei Li
Abstract
This paper addresses the challenges of low scheduling efficiency, unbalanced resource allocation, and poor adaptability in ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) processes under heterogeneous data environments by proposing an intelligent scheduling optimization framework based on deep Q-learning. The framework formalizes the ETL scheduling process as a Markov Decision Process and enables adaptive decision-making by a reinforcement learning agent in high-dimensional state spaces to dynamically optimize task allocation and resource scheduling. The model consists of a state representation module, a feature embedding network, a Q-value estimator, and a reward evaluation mechanism, which collectively consider task dependencies, node load states, and data flow characteristics to derive the optimal scheduling strategy in complex environments. A multi-objective reward function is designed to balance key performance indicators such as average scheduling delay, task completion rate, throughput, and resource utilization. Sensitivity experiments further verify the model's robustness under changes in hyperparameters, environmental dynamics, and data scale. Experimental results show that the proposed deep Q-learning scheduling framework significantly reduces scheduling delay, improves system throughput, and enhances execution stability under multi-source heterogeneous task conditions, demonstrating the strong potential of reinforcement learning in complex data scheduling and resource management, and providing an efficient and scalable optimization strategy for intelligent data pipeline construction.