Control Surface for Min Max Sample Indexing in MSAA
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for determining minimum or maximum sample values in multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) require significant memory overhead and computational resources due to the need to load and compare each sample in the shader, leading to increased memory bandwidth usage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a control surface to store the indexing of minimum or maximum sample values, allowing only one sample to be loaded when requested, eliminating the need for shader calculations and reducing memory bandwidth by tracking which samples contain these values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple samples are stored in separate planes for MSAA operation, then anti-aliasing quality is improved, but memory overhead and memory bandwidth requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary information (minimum and maximum sample indices) from the full sample data and stores it separately in the control surface. This allows the system to maintain anti-aliasing quality while reducing memory overhead by not storing all sample values in separate planes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary identification of minimum and maximum sample indices during the rendering process and stores this information in the control surface before the actual sampling operation. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent shader computations and reduces memory bandwidth requirements during the sampling phase.
2Measurement precision
If multiple samples are loaded and compared in the shader to determine minimum or maximum values, then accurate sample value determination is achieved, but computational cost and memory bandwidth increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the identification of minimum and maximum sample indices as a preliminary action during the rendering process, storing the results in the control surface. This eliminates the need for computationally intensive shader comparisons during the actual sampling operation, significantly improving computational efficiency while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the sample indexing information in the control surface, which stores the minimum and maximum sample indices. This copy allows the system to retrieve the necessary information without loading and comparing all original samples in the shader, reducing computational cost while maintaining accuracy.
3Loss of information
If all sample values are stored in separate memory planes, then complete sample data is available for processing, but memory bandwidth usage becomes very significant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential indexing information (minimum and maximum sample indices) from the complete sample data and stores it in the control surface. This extraction approach maintains the necessary information for processing while dramatically reducing memory bandwidth consumption by not storing all sample values in separate planes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary identification and storage of minimum and maximum sample indices in the control surface before the sampling operation. This preliminary action ensures that only the necessary information is transferred to memory, reducing memory bandwidth consumption while maintaining complete sample data availability through the indexed access mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments are generally directed to minimum or maximum sample indexing in a control surface. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a graphics processor including: a sampler to sample a value; one or more of a color unit or a depth unit; and at least one minimum or maximum sample (min/max) setter subunit for the color unit or depth unit, the min/max setter subunit to receive a new sample value, store the sample value in a resource containing a plurality of sample values, and update indexing include index values for one or more of a minimum sample value and a maximum sample value in the plurality of sample values of the resource.