Large Language Model Deployment on Resource-Constrained Edge Devices: A Practitioner's Survey

Large Language Models (LLMs) have transformed many areas of artificial intelligence (AI), but their substantial resource requirements limit their deployment on mobile and edge devices. Although LLMs have demonstrated impressive capabilities in various applications, the next challenge is deploying these models on resource-limited edge devices. Recent innovations in software optimizations and specialized hardware have made it feasible to deploy LLMs on edge devices. Edge deployment offers benefits including local data processing, cost savings, reduced latency, and personalized responses. This paper reviews the latest techniques that make the deployment of LLMs on edge devices feasible and provides actionable, constraint-driven guidelines for practical edge deployment.