Automated Deep Learning Model Partitioning for Heterogeneous Edge Devices

Deep Neural Networks (DNN) have made machine learning accessible to a wide set of practitioners working with field deployment of analytics algorithms over sensor data. Along with it, focus on data privacy, low latency inference, and sustainability has highlighted the need for efficient in-situ analytics close to sensors, at the edge of the network, which is challenging given the constrained nature of the edge platforms, including Common Off-the-Shelf (COTS) AI accelerators. Efficient DNN model partitioning across multiple edge nodes is a well-studied approach, but no definitive characterization exists as to why there is a performance improvement due to DNN model partitioning, and whether the benefits hold for currently used edge hardware & state-of-the-art DNN models. In this paper, we present a detailed study and analyses to address the above-mentioned shortcomings and propose a framework that automatically determines the best partitioning scheme and enhances system efficiency.