Where to Split? A Pareto-Front Analysis of DNN Partitioning for Edge Inference

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Masud, Adiba, Foley, Nicholas, Rajarajan, Pragathi Durga, Lama, Palden
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Masud, Adiba
Foley, Nicholas
Rajarajan, Pragathi Durga
Lama, Palden
author_facet Masud, Adiba
Foley, Nicholas
Rajarajan, Pragathi Durga
Lama, Palden
contents The deployment of deep neural networks (DNNs) on resource-constrained edge devices is frequently hindered by their significant computational and memory requirements. While partitioning and distributing a DNN across multiple devices is a well-established strategy to mitigate this challenge, prior research has largely focused on single-objective optimization, such as minimizing latency or maximizing throughput. This paper challenges that view by reframing DNN partitioning as a multi-objective optimization problem. We argue that in real-world scenarios, a complex trade-off between latency and throughput exists, which is further complicated by network variability. To address this, we introduce ParetoPipe, an open-source framework that leverages Pareto front analysis to systematically identify optimal partitioning strategies that balance these competing objectives. Our contributions are threefold: we benchmark pipeline partitioned inference on a heterogeneous testbed of Raspberry Pis and a GPU-equipped edge server; we identify Pareto-optimal points to analyze the latency-throughput trade-off under varying network conditions; and we release a flexible, open-source framework to facilitate distributed inference and benchmarking. This toolchain features dual communication backends, PyTorch RPC and a custom lightweight implementation, to minimize overhead and support broad experimentation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_08025
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Where to Split? A Pareto-Front Analysis of DNN Partitioning for Edge Inference
Masud, Adiba
Foley, Nicholas
Rajarajan, Pragathi Durga
Lama, Palden
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
The deployment of deep neural networks (DNNs) on resource-constrained edge devices is frequently hindered by their significant computational and memory requirements. While partitioning and distributing a DNN across multiple devices is a well-established strategy to mitigate this challenge, prior research has largely focused on single-objective optimization, such as minimizing latency or maximizing throughput. This paper challenges that view by reframing DNN partitioning as a multi-objective optimization problem. We argue that in real-world scenarios, a complex trade-off between latency and throughput exists, which is further complicated by network variability. To address this, we introduce ParetoPipe, an open-source framework that leverages Pareto front analysis to systematically identify optimal partitioning strategies that balance these competing objectives. Our contributions are threefold: we benchmark pipeline partitioned inference on a heterogeneous testbed of Raspberry Pis and a GPU-equipped edge server; we identify Pareto-optimal points to analyze the latency-throughput trade-off under varying network conditions; and we release a flexible, open-source framework to facilitate distributed inference and benchmarking. This toolchain features dual communication backends, PyTorch RPC and a custom lightweight implementation, to minimize overhead and support broad experimentation.
title Where to Split? A Pareto-Front Analysis of DNN Partitioning for Edge Inference
topic Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08025