Serial Composition
A pipeline topology where each node feeds the next. The output of stage i is the input of stage i+1. End-to-end yield is the product of per-node accept rates. The math is brutally multiplicative: ten stages at 80% per-gate ships 11% of jobs.
Why It Exists
Every AI POC that fails to ship fails here. The demo clears one gate. Production demands ten in series. The compounded yield collapse is invisible until you write the math down.
Related Terms
Parallel Composition - A pipeline topology where a source fans out to N independent branches that later merge.
Verifier-Producer - A two-node topology where a producer P emits a candidate and a verifier V either accepts it (forwards to output) or rejects it (loops back to P for a rerun).