vSkipper: Translating Dynamic Layer Skipping into LLM Serving Gains
Dynamic layer skipping reduces LLM computation by allowing each token to execute only a subset of the model's layers. However, existing skippers rely on specialized generation loops and do not integrate with modern serving engines. As a result, fewer executed layers do not necessarily translate into lower serving latency: FlexiDepth skips 8 of Llama-3-8B's 32 layers on average, yet its standard generation loop decodes 14.6--21.0% more slowly than the base model. We present vSkipper, a virtualization layer that makes dynamic layer skippers pluggable in serving engines while preserving continuous batching, fixed-shape batches, paged KV caching, and captured decode graphs. At each routed lay...
| Authors | Wei Da, Yavuz Ferhatosmanoglu, Evangelia Kalyvianaki |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.DC |
| Published | 29 September 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 29 September 2026 |
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