Time-Division Online Speculative Inference for Cost-Effective Intelligent Internet of Things

Intelligent Internet of Things (IIoT), a network paradigm, is an interconnection of intelligent edge devices, empowered by machine learning models. The recent emergence of large language models (LLMs) opens a new path towards IIoT. Although device models are generally lightweight and suitable for edge devices with limited processing power, their performance is less impressive compared to LLMs running on large servers. Server models offer superior performance with the cost of significant computational resources for model inference. To realize cost-effective IIoT, we introduce a novel collaborative inference framework: the online speculative inference enabled by device collaboration and time divisions. We aim to find the minimum number of servers required for the immediate processing of arrived inference requests. To solve the problem, we propose an evolving directed acyclic graph along with a Proof-of-Deletion mechanism for cost reduction and privacy protection. Based on computer simulations using heterogeneous LLMs, it is found that time-division online speculative inference is a promising approach towards cost-effective IIoT.