Mobile devices can offload deep neural network (DNN)-based inference to the cloud, overcoming local hardware and energy limitations. However, offloading adds communication delay, thus increasing the overall inference time, and hence it should be used only when needed. An approach to address this problem consists of the use of adaptive model partitioning based on early-exit DNNs. Accordingly, the inference starts at the mobile device, and an intermediate layer estimates the accuracy: If the estimated accuracy is sufficient, the device takes the inference decision; Otherwise, the remaining layers of the DNN run at the cloud. Thus, the device offloads the inference to the cloud only if it cannot classify a sample with high confidence. This offloading requires a correct accuracy prediction at the device. Nevertheless, DNNs are typically miscalibrated, providing overconfident decisions. This work shows that the employment of a miscalibrated early-exit DNN for offloading via model partitioning can significantly decrease inference accuracy. In contrast, we argue that implementing a calibration algorithm prior to deployment can solve this problem, allowing for more reliable offloading decisions.

该研究针对移动设备上的深度神经网络的推断，使用自适应模型划分的方法解决了通信延迟的问题，并对准确性进行了预测和校准，从而实现更可靠的推断决策。

通过深度神经网络的自适应模型分割辅助校准边缘推断卸载