Large Language Models (LLMs) have achieved remarkable performance across various artificial intelligence applications. However, current LLMs cannot be deployed directly on edge nodes due to their large number of parameters. Fortunately, model compression technology has been proposed to reduce the computational workload and memory usage of LLMs, enabling further edge-based LLM services. However, existing research typically concentrates on isolated compression algorithms and lacks a comprehensive perspective on how to leverage these techniques for practical, end-to-end LLM deployment in edge environments. In this survey, we review edge-oriented LLM compression techniques and software–hardware co-design strategies to enable efficient LLM deployment on resource-constrained edge systems and guide future research in this area. First, we analyze techniques for LLM compression from the perspective of cloud–edge collaborative intelligence, including model quantization, parameter pruning, and knowledge distillation. Second, we present several hybrid model frameworks tailored to dynamic, heterogeneous edge environments, based on model architecture, application scenarios, and combination selection. Third, we further refine a four-layer software–hardware codesign and an overhead-aware LLM deployment optimization. Finally, we discuss the challenges of current model compression approaches and offer insights into future research directions, with a focus on edge-based LLM services.

Efficient sensing is critical for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, such as environmental monitoring and traffic management, where high quality sensing data is essential for decision-making. Traditional sensing methods, however, are often plagued by high deployment costs and incomplete data coverage, significantly limiting their practicality. Despite recent progress, these methods continue to face challenges in maintaining data accuracy, ultimately degrading the Quality of Service (QoS) for IoT applications. To address these limitations, we propose ASSTG, a novel framework that combines an Active Sampling strategy with Spatio-Temporal Graph learning to enable efficient and accurate IoT sensing. At its core, AS-STG is designed to minimize the sampling cost while ensuring the accuracy of the data. The framework begins by analyzing historical data to determine the minimum sampling requirements for accurate inference in subsequent time slots. It then constructs a spatio-temporal graph to model the complex relationships between sensing grids, capturing both spatial and temporal dynamics. To supplement the spatio-temporal information and further optimize representations, we introduce two contrastive learning tasks. Leveraging the refined representation, AS-STG strategically selects informationrich regions for sampling, ensuring that even a sparse subset of samples can provide comprehensive coverage of the entire sensing area. Finally, AS-STG employs matrix completion techniques to reconstruct the complete sensing data from these sparse samples. Extensive experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate that AS-STG significantly outperforms baselines in terms of inference accuracy, cost-efficiency, and scalability. By effectively reducing sampling costs without compromising QoS, AS-STG offers a robust and scalable solution for dynamic IoT sensing systems.

Cloud computing typically involves transferring users' requests to centralized cloud servers, a process that is inherently fraught with substantial delays due to the unpredictable nature of network transmissions. This inherent latency issue presents considerable challenges to applications that are highly sensitive to delay. We propose leveraging edge collaboration to minimize latency by enabling efficient user request scheduling within geographical proximities. However, cross-regional edge collaboration faces challenges due to the lack of real-time resource knowledge across regions, a problem we have identified as NP-hard. To address this, we introduce a model to connect edge nodes globally, thereby accurately reflecting their resource status. By employing an enhanced Dijkstra algorithm, we optimize the request routing process, achieving a notable reduction in delays compared to baseline methods, thus enhancing performance across various test scenarios.

The growing popularity of contact-free smart sensing has contributed to the development of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT). The contact-free sensory data has great potential to mine and analyze the hidden information for AIoT-enabled applications. However, due to the limited storage resource of contact-free smart sensing devices, data is naturally stored in the cloud, which is at risk of privacy leakage. Cloud storage is generally considered insecure. On one hand, the openness of the cloud environment makes the data easy to be attacked, and the complex AIoT environment also makes the data transmission process vulnerable to the third party. On the other hand, the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) is untrusted. In this article, to ensure the security of data from contact-free smart sensing devices, a Cloud-Edge-End cooperative storage scheme is proposed, which takes full advantage of the differences in the cloud, edge, and end. Firstly, the processed sensory data is stored separately in the three layers by utilizing well-designed data partitioning strategy. This scheme can increase the difficulty of privacy leakage in the transmission process and avoid internal and external attacks. Besides, the contact-free sensory data is highly time-dependent. Therefore, combined with the Cloud-Edge-End cooperation model, this article proposes a delta-based data update method and extends it into a hybrid update mode to improve the synchronization efficiency. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed cooperative storage method can resist various security threats in bad situations and outperform other update methods in synchronization efficiency, significantly reducing the synchronization overhead in AIoT.