Hybrid Tile Binning for Cache-Efficient 3D Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tiling techniques in graphics processing suffer from either high cache hit rates with increased overhead (fine level tiling) or lower overhead with lower cache hit rates (coarse level tiling), necessitating additional hardware for efficient tile rendering.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid approach combining coarse and fine level tiling using the same fixed function hardware for efficient tile rendering, where coarse level tiling is executed for coarse tiles and fine level tiling is applied for fine tiles, optimizing cache usage and reducing overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fine level tiling is used, then cache hit rate is improved, but overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image into multiple tiles and processes them in a hierarchical manner. Fine level tiling is applied within each coarse tile to improve cache hit rates, while coarse level tiling organizes the overall structure to manage overhead. This segmentation allows the system to benefit from fine-grained caching without the full overhead of fine level tiling across the entire image.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical dimension to the tiling structure by combining coarse and fine level tiling. Instead of using a single tiling granularity, the system operates at two levels: coarse tiles organize the global structure while fine tiles within them optimize local cache usage. This dimensional addition resolves the contradiction by allowing fine level cache optimization without the proportional increase in overall overhead.
2Device complexity
If coarse level tiling is used, then overhead is reduced, but cache hit rate decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image processing into coarse and fine levels. Coarse level tiling provides the overall structure with lower overhead, while fine level tiling is applied within each coarse tile to maintain cache hit rates. This segmentation allows the system to achieve low overhead at the global level while preserving cache efficiency at the local level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different tiling strategies to different parts of the image. Fine level tiling is applied locally within each coarse tile where cache efficiency is critical, while coarse level tiling is used for the overall image structure where overhead reduction is more important. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing for cache hit rate where needed and reducing overhead where possible.
3Productivity
If additional hardware is added to achieve efficient tile rendering, then rendering efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the existing fixed function hardware perform multiple functions by implementing both coarse and fine level tiling using the same hardware resources. The hardware is configured to execute fine level tiling for specific tiles and coarse level tiling for others, allowing a single hardware unit to achieve the rendering efficiency previously requiring additional specialized hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the existing hardware to serve itself by implementing intelligent tile selection and processing strategies. The fixed function hardware automatically determines which tiles require fine level processing and which can use coarse level processing, optimizing rendering efficiency through software-controlled hardware utilization rather than requiring additional hardware components.
Data Source
AI summary
A processing device and a method of tiled rendering of an image for display is provided. The processing device includes memory and a processor. The processor is configured to receive the image comprising one or more three dimensional (3D) objects, divide the image into tiles, execute coarse level tiling for the tiles of the image and execute fine level tiling for the tiles of the image. The processing device also includes same fixed function hardware used to execute the coarse level tiling and the fine level tiling. The processor is also configured to determine visibility information for a first one of the tiles. The visibility information is divided into draw call visibility information and triangle visibility information for each remaining tile of the image.