Real-time inference targets sub-second latency so that model outputs feel instantaneous in interactive applications.
Latency Budget (chat, 200 tokens)
Optimization Techniques
Current Trends (2025)
- Speculative decoding + vLLM achieves 2× speed-up.
- Edge GPU pods serve 50 ms RTT for gaming companions.
- Async I/O in Python servers (FastAPI + uvloop) cuts queuing.
Implementation Tips
- Prefer streaming token APIs to show partial output.
- Pin threads to CPU NUMA node adjacent to GPU.
- Measure tail latency (p99) not just average.