Rsltollvm

This document proposes a project to investigate using LLVM as a shader virtual machine for the RenderMan Shading Language (RSL). The goals are to compile RSL to LLVM bitcode, implement runtime support including just-in-time compilation and optimization, and explore LLVM's performance and functionality for shader VMs. Key aspects discussed include compiling RSL to LLVM IR, handling built-in functions, runtime JIT compilation and specialization, code generation strategies like SPMD and SIMD, and interfacing RSL and LLVM. The current status and projected timeline are also presented.