Edge-First Language Model Inference: Models, Metrics, and Tradeoffs

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Jang, SiYoung, Morabito, Roberto
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Jang, SiYoung
Morabito, Roberto
author_facet Jang, SiYoung
Morabito, Roberto
contents The widespread adoption of Language Models (LMs) across industries is driving interest in deploying these services across the computing continuum, from the cloud to the network edge. This shift aims to reduce costs, lower latency, and improve reliability and privacy. Small Language Models (SLMs), enabled by advances in model compression, are central to this shift, offering a path to on-device inference on resource-constrained edge platforms. This work examines the interplay between edge and cloud deployments, starting from detailed benchmarking of SLM capabilities on single edge devices, and extending to distributed edge clusters. We identify scenarios where edge inference offers comparable performance with lower costs, and others where cloud fallback becomes essential due to limits in scalability or model capacity. Rather than proposing a one-size-fits-all solution, we present platform-level comparisons and design insights for building efficient, adaptive LM inference systems across heterogeneous environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_16508
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Edge-First Language Model Inference: Models, Metrics, and Tradeoffs
Jang, SiYoung
Morabito, Roberto
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Artificial Intelligence
Networking and Internet Architecture
Performance
The widespread adoption of Language Models (LMs) across industries is driving interest in deploying these services across the computing continuum, from the cloud to the network edge. This shift aims to reduce costs, lower latency, and improve reliability and privacy. Small Language Models (SLMs), enabled by advances in model compression, are central to this shift, offering a path to on-device inference on resource-constrained edge platforms. This work examines the interplay between edge and cloud deployments, starting from detailed benchmarking of SLM capabilities on single edge devices, and extending to distributed edge clusters. We identify scenarios where edge inference offers comparable performance with lower costs, and others where cloud fallback becomes essential due to limits in scalability or model capacity. Rather than proposing a one-size-fits-all solution, we present platform-level comparisons and design insights for building efficient, adaptive LM inference systems across heterogeneous environments.
title Edge-First Language Model Inference: Models, Metrics, and Tradeoffs
topic Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Artificial Intelligence
Networking and Internet Architecture
Performance
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.16508