Last Modified Date

2017-09-05

IP Status

No known IP claims.

Contributors

• John Kessenich, Google

• Neil Henning, Codeplay

• David Neto, Google

• Daniel Koch, Nvidia

• Graeme Leese, Broadcom

• Weifeng Zhang, Qualcomm

• Stephen Clarke, Imagination Technologies

• Faith Ekstrand, Intel

• Jesse Hall, Google

TheVK_KHR_variable_pointers extension allows implementations to indicatetheir level of support for theSPV_KHR_variable_pointers SPIR-V extension.The SPIR-V extension allows shader modules to use invocation-privatepointers into uniform and/or storage buffers, where the pointer values canbe dynamic and non-uniform.

TheSPV_KHR_variable_pointers extension introduces two capabilities.The first,VariablePointersStorageBuffer,must be supported by allimplementations of this extension.The second,VariablePointers, is optional.

All functionality in this extension is included in core Vulkan 1.1, with theKHR suffix omitted, however support for thevariablePointersStorageBuffer feature is made optional.The original type, enum, and command names are still available as aliases ofthe core functionality.

If Vulkan 1.4 is supported, support for thevariablePointers andvariablePointersStorageBuffer features is required.

• ExtendingVkPhysicalDeviceFeatures2,VkDeviceCreateInfo:

  • VkPhysicalDeviceVariablePointerFeaturesKHR

  • VkPhysicalDeviceVariablePointersFeaturesKHR

• VK_KHR_VARIABLE_POINTERS_EXTENSION_NAME

• VK_KHR_VARIABLE_POINTERS_SPEC_VERSION

• ExtendingVkStructureType:

  • VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_VARIABLE_POINTERS_FEATURES_KHR

  • VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_VARIABLE_POINTER_FEATURES_KHR

• VariablePointers

• VariablePointersStorageBuffer

1) Do we need an optional property for the SPIR-VVariablePointersStorageBuffer capability or should it be mandatory whenthis extension is advertised?

RESOLVED: Add it as a distinct feature, but make support mandatory.Adding it as a feature makes the extension easier to include in a futurecore API version.In the extension, the feature is mandatory, so that presence of theextension guarantees some functionality.When included in a core API version, the feature would be optional.

2) Can support for these capabilities vary between shader stages?

RESOLVED: No, if the capability is supported in any stage it must besupported in all stages.

3) Should the capabilities be features or limits?

RESOLVED: Features, primarily for consistency with other similarextensions.

• Revision 1, 2017-03-14 (Jesse Hall and John Kessenich)

  • Internal revisions

No cross-references are available

For more information, see theVulkan Specification.

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