I have some doubts. For example, there is no software replacement for out-of-order execution: It is unknown before runtime in which cache level the required data will be or which values it will have (which changes the latency of a few instructions).
I have some doubts. For example, there is no software replacement for out-of-order execution: It is unknown before runtime in which cache level the required data will be or which values it will have (which changes the latency of a few instructions).
What if caching was not transparent, but required explicit management?
That was the PS3 SPU. It was very fast for its time, but only for the small subset of code that could work within its constraints, and viciously difficult to program for.