  Consider a mobile edge computing system in which users wish to obtain the
result of a linear inference operation on locally measured input data. Unlike
the offloaded input data, the model weight matrix is distributed across
wireless Edge Nodes (ENs). ENs have non-deterministic computing times, and they
can transmit any shared computed output back to the users cooperatively. This
letter investigates the potential advantages obtained by coding model
information prior to ENs' storage. Through an information-theoretic analysis,
it is concluded that, while generally limiting cooperation opportunities,
coding is instrumental in reducing the overall computation-plus-communication
latency.
