How Flexible is Your Computing System

TL;DR

This paper aims to rigorously define and analyze the concept of flexibility in computing systems, addressing the lack of clear metrics and understanding of trade-offs involved.

Contribution

It introduces a formal framework to quantify and evaluate flexibility in computing architectures, enabling better design and comparison.

Findings

Proposes a formal definition of flexibility in computing systems

Identifies key trade-offs between flexibility, performance, and energy efficiency

Provides a basis for systematic evaluation of system flexibility

Abstract

In literature computer architectures are frequently claimed to be highly flexible, typically implying there exist trade-offs between flexibility and performance or energy efficiency. Processor flexibility, however, is not very sharply defined, and as such these claims can not be validated, nor can such hypothetical relations be fully understood and exploited in the design of computing systems. This paper is an attempt to introduce scientific rigour to the notion of flexibility in computing systems.