Device controllers are generally becoming more complex in the functionality they provide
(e.g. think about the difference between implementing a serial port with a flip-flop controlled
by the CPU and a multi-gigabit network adapter with the TCP/IP stack on the card itself).
What effect might this have on the operating system and system performance?
Answer:
Device controllers’ improved functionality can at times really increase the performance of the overall system as we are offloading tasks from the CPU (think of the difference between running 3D games with and without a dedicated GPU). However we may end up with the problem of lack of hardware support, or could be bounded by slow interfaces.