Introduction:
The Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architecture is a technique used to improve the performance of processors by simultaneously executing multiple instructions. It differs from other approaches in terms of complex hardware design.

Complex Hardware Design:
One of the main differences between VLIW and other approaches to improve performance is the lack of complex hardware design. VLIW processors are designed to execute multiple instructions in parallel by grouping them into long instruction words. These long instruction words contain multiple operations that can be executed simultaneously by the processor. This allows for efficient execution of instructions without the need for complex hardware components.

Other Approaches:
On the other hand, other approaches to improve performance, such as superscalar and out-of-order execution, rely on complex hardware designs. Superscalar processors are designed to execute multiple instructions concurrently by including multiple execution units and sophisticated hardware scheduling mechanisms. Out-of-order execution processors reorder instructions dynamically to exploit instruction-level parallelism. These approaches require additional hardware components, such as multiple execution units, register renaming, and advanced branch prediction mechanisms, to achieve high performance.

Advantages of VLIW:
The lack of complex hardware design in VLIW processors offers several advantages. Firstly, it simplifies the design and implementation of the processor, resulting in lower cost and reduced power consumption. Secondly, the absence of complex hardware components reduces the complexity of the processor, making it easier to verify and debug. Lastly, VLIW processors offer predictable execution times since the instructions are explicitly specified in the long instruction words, allowing for efficient scheduling and resource allocation.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the main difference between VLIW and other approaches to improve performance is the lack of complex hardware design in VLIW processors. While other approaches rely on sophisticated hardware components to achieve high performance, VLIW processors simplify the design and implementation by grouping multiple instructions into long instruction words. This results in cost-effective and power-efficient processors with predictable execution times.