LLMPi: Optimizing LLMs for High-Throughput on Raspberry Pi
Mahsa Ardakani, Jinendra Malekar, Ramtin Zand
Abstract
Deploying Large Language Models (LLMs) on resource-constrained edge devices like the Raspberry Pi presents challenges in computational efficiency, power consumption, and response latency. This paper explores quantization-based optimization techniques to enable high-throughput, energy-efficient execution of LLMs on low-power embedded systems. Our approach leverages k-quantization, a Post-Training Quantization (PTQ) method designed for differ-ent bit-widths, enabling efficient 2-bit, 4-bit, 6-bit, and 8-bit weight quantization. Additionally, we employ ternary quan-tization using Quantization-Aware Training (QAT) for Bit-Net models, allowingfor more effective adaptation to lower-bit representations while preserving accuracy. Our findings highlight the potential of quantized LLMs for real-time conversational AI on edge devices, paving the way for low-power, high-efficiency AI deployment in mobile and embedded applications. This study demonstrates that aggressive quantization strategies can significantly reduce energy consumption while maintaining inference quality, making LLMs practical for resource-limited environments.