Enabling Design Methodologies and Future Trends for Edge AI: Specialization and Co-design
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Abstract (arXiv)
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have dramatically advanced in recent years, resulting in revolutionary changes in people's lives. Empowered by edge computing, AI workloads are migrating from centralized cloud architectures to distributed edge systems, introducing a new paradigm called edge AI. While edge AI has the promise of bringing significant increases in autonomy and intelligence into everyday lives through common edge devices, it also raises new challenges, especially for the development of its algorithms and the deployment of its services, which call for novel design methodologies catered to these unique challenges. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of the latest enabling design methodologies that span the entire edge AI development stack. We suggest that the key methodologies for effective edge AI development are single-layer specialization and cross-layer co-design. We discuss representative methodologies in each category in detail, including on-device training methods, specialized software design, dedicated hardware design, benchmarking and design automation, software/hardware co-design, software/compiler co-design, and compiler/hardware co-design. Moreover, we attempt to reveal hidden cross-layer design opportunities that can further boost the solution quality of future edge AI and provide insights into future directions and emerging areas that require increased research focus.
Key facts. Cited by 13 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 65 of its 131 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 25 Mar 2021.
Builds on
65 of 131 references.
References · 65
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38 more
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50 most cited of 65 All 65 (JSON)
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Citing papers per year: 2021: 2; 2022: 3; 2023: 2; 2024: 3; 2025: 3.
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- 2022Hardware Approximate Techniques for Deep Neural Network Accelerators: A Surveycited by 39
- 2023Green Edge AI: A Contemporary Surveycited by 25
- 2024Learning from Students: Applying t-Distributions to Explore Accurate and Efficient Formats for LLMscited by 18
- 2021PhiNets: a scalable backbone for low-power AI at the edgecited by 16
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- 2023FLIQS: One-Shot Mixed-Precision Floating-Point and Integer Quantization Searchcited by 6
- 2025MetaML-Pro: Cross-Stage Design Flow Automation for Efficient Deep Learning Accelerationcited by 4
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- 2024Radial Networks: Dynamic Layer Routing for High-Performance Large Language Modelscited by 1
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- 2025Edge-Cloud Collaborative Computing on Distributed Intelligence and Model Optimization: A Survey3 May 2025
- 2025MetaML-Pro: Cross-Stage Design Flow Automation for Efficient Deep Learning Acceleration9 Feb 2025
- 2024Residual-INR: Communication Efficient On-Device Learning Using Implicit Neural Representation10 Aug 2024
- 2024Learning from Students: Applying t-Distributions to Explore Accurate and Efficient Formats for LLMs6 May 2024
- 2024Radial Networks: Dynamic Layer Routing for High-Performance Large Language Models7 Apr 2024
- 2023Green Edge AI: A Contemporary Survey1 Dec 2023
- 2023FLIQS: One-Shot Mixed-Precision Floating-Point and Integer Quantization Search7 Aug 2023
- 2022Compilation and Optimizations for Efficient Machine Learning on Embedded Systems6 Jun 2022
- 2022Autonomy and Intelligence in the Computing Continuum: Challenges, Enablers, and Future Directions for Orchestration3 May 2022
- 2022Hardware Approximate Techniques for Deep Neural Network Accelerators: A Survey16 Mar 2022
- 2021PhiNets: a scalable backbone for low-power AI at the edge1 Oct 2021
- 2022Hardware Approximate Techniques for Deep Neural Network Accelerators: A Surveycited by 39
- 2023Green Edge AI: A Contemporary Surveycited by 25
- 2024Learning from Students: Applying t-Distributions to Explore Accurate and Efficient Formats for LLMscited by 18
- 2021PhiNets: a scalable backbone for low-power AI at the edgecited by 16
- 2025Edge-Cloud Collaborative Computing on Distributed Intelligence and Model Optimization: A Surveycited by 14
- 2022Autonomy and Intelligence in the Computing Continuum: Challenges, Enablers, and Future Directions for Orchestrationcited by 12
- 2023FLIQS: One-Shot Mixed-Precision Floating-Point and Integer Quantization Searchcited by 6
- 2025MetaML-Pro: Cross-Stage Design Flow Automation for Efficient Deep Learning Accelerationcited by 4
- 20213U-EdgeAI: Ultra-Low Memory Training, Ultra-Low BitwidthQuantization, and Ultra-Low Latency Accelerationcited by 3
- 2024Radial Networks: Dynamic Layer Routing for High-Performance Large Language Modelscited by 1
- 2022Compilation and Optimizations for Efficient Machine Learning on Embedded Systemscited by 0
- 2024Residual-INR: Communication Efficient On-Device Learning Using Implicit Neural Representationcited by 0
- 2025Edge-Cloud Collaborative Computing on Distributed Intelligence and Model Optimization: A Survey3 May 2025
- 2025MetaML-Pro: Cross-Stage Design Flow Automation for Efficient Deep Learning Acceleration9 Feb 2025
- 2024Residual-INR: Communication Efficient On-Device Learning Using Implicit Neural Representation10 Aug 2024
- 2024Learning from Students: Applying t-Distributions to Explore Accurate and Efficient Formats for LLMs6 May 2024
- 2024Radial Networks: Dynamic Layer Routing for High-Performance Large Language Models7 Apr 2024
- 2023Green Edge AI: A Contemporary Survey1 Dec 2023
- 2023FLIQS: One-Shot Mixed-Precision Floating-Point and Integer Quantization Search7 Aug 2023
- 2022Compilation and Optimizations for Efficient Machine Learning on Embedded Systems6 Jun 2022
- 2022Autonomy and Intelligence in the Computing Continuum: Challenges, Enablers, and Future Directions for Orchestration3 May 2022
- 2022Hardware Approximate Techniques for Deep Neural Network Accelerators: A Survey16 Mar 2022
- 2021PhiNets: a scalable backbone for low-power AI at the edge1 Oct 2021
- 20213U-EdgeAI: Ultra-Low Memory Training, Ultra-Low BitwidthQuantization, and Ultra-Low Latency Acceleration11 May 2021