In this two-part work, we propose an algorithmic framework for solving non-convex problems whose objective function is the sum of a number of smooth component functions plus a convex (possibly non-smooth) or/and smooth (possibly non-convex) regularization function. The proposed algorithm incorporates ideas from several existing approaches such as alternate direction method of multipliers (ADMM), successive convex approximation (SCA), distributed and asynchronous algorithms, and inexact gradient methods. Different from a number of existing approaches, however, the proposed framework is flexible enough to incorporate a class of non-convex objective functions, allow distributed operation with and without a fusion center, and include variance reduced methods as special cases. Remarkably, the proposed algorithms are robust to uncertainties arising from random, deterministic, and adversarial sources. The part I of the paper develops two variants of the algorithm under very mild assumptions and establishes first-order convergence rate guarantees. The proof developed here allows for generic errors and delays, paving the way for different variance-reduced, asynchronous, and stochastic implementations, outlined and evaluated in part II.
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