There are many problems that plague the modern PC world and one of them is the constantly diminishing processor performance gains. While a decade ago every new chip architecture brought significant improvements in performance, nowadays a new processor generation brings limited average performance benefits that range between 5-10 per cent. Clearly a solution is needed and this solution may be an entirely new computing architecture.
Two former Intel employees – Mahesh Lingareddy and Mohammad Abdallah – are fully aware of the issue and this is why they have possibly created a solution – the all-new VISC computing architecture. VICS stands for Virtual Instruction Set Computing and it offers an entirely new way of computing – every software program is divided into “virtual hardware threads” that are then sent to “virtual cores”. This new approach to computing allows for dynamic allocation and sharing of resources across cores. According to its creators VISC will achieve 3-4 times more instructions per cycle (IPC) and 2-4 times more performance per watt on single- and multi-threaded applications. VISC also uses a light-weight “virtual software layer” that makes the VISC architecture applicable to existing as well as new software ecosystems; it is also fully compatible with the existing x86 software infrastructure.
The new architecture looks very promising and this is why the company that develops it – Soft Machines – now gets funding and help from companies like Samsung, GlobalFoundries, AMD and former Intel employees. The new architecture is expected on the market in the near future but not earlier than three years from now.
Source: Soft Machines