Definition
The systematic optimization of the end-to-end inference lifecycle in RAG or Agentic workflows to minimize Time to First Token (TTFT) and total execution time. It involves architectural trade-offs where speed is often gained by sacrificing precision through quantization or by increasing infrastructure costs via specialized hardware and parallelization.
Focuses on computational and retrieval bottlenecks rather than raw network ping or bandwidth.
"A relay race where runners use pre-cleared lanes and synchronized hand-offs to move a baton across the finish line faster."
- Quantization(Component)
- Prompt Caching(Component)
- Throughput(Related Metric)
- Time to First Token (TTFT)(Key Metric)
Conceptual Overview
The systematic optimization of the end-to-end inference lifecycle in RAG or Agentic workflows to minimize Time to First Token (TTFT) and total execution time. It involves architectural trade-offs where speed is often gained by sacrificing precision through quantization or by increasing infrastructure costs via specialized hardware and parallelization.
Disambiguation
Focuses on computational and retrieval bottlenecks rather than raw network ping or bandwidth.
Visual Analog
A relay race where runners use pre-cleared lanes and synchronized hand-offs to move a baton across the finish line faster.