Multi-Tile GPU Post-Synchronization Using Atomic Operation Sequences
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Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-tile processor architectures, there are challenges in minimizing latencies and overheads related to synchronization among processor compute tiles, which affect the efficiency of post-synchronization operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing post-synchronization operations that include performance of multiple operations upon completion of a command buffer processing by processing engines, with a sequence of atomic operations, to ensure efficient synchronization across tiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple operations are performed sequentially after command buffer completion, then processing completeness is ensured, but synchronization latency and overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by executing atomic operations (such as memory barriers or synchronization primitives) before the actual post-synchronization processing begins. This ensures that all compute tiles have completed their respective operations and memory consistency is established in advance, allowing subsequent operations to proceed without additional latency. The command buffer completion is marked as the synchronization point where all prior operations are guaranteed to be visible across tiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple post-synchronization operations into a unified atomic operation sequence that can be executed efficiently across all compute tiles. By combining operations such as memory barriers, buffer flushing, and result aggregation into a single coordinated sequence, the system reduces the overhead of individual synchronization calls while maintaining processing completeness.
2Reliability
If atomic operations are executed across all compute tiles, then data consistency is ensured, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing atomic operations that are tailored to the specific needs of each compute tile rather than applying a uniform synchronization approach across all tiles. Each tile executes only the necessary atomic operations required for its data consistency requirements, reducing unnecessary overhead in tiles that do not require full synchronization. This allows different tiles to have different synchronization behaviors based on their local processing characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the synchronization process into distinct atomic operation phases, where different types of atomic operations (e.g., memory barriers, fence operations, or tile-specific synchronization primitives) are executed in sequence. This segmentation allows the system to manage data consistency across tiles without requiring all tiles to perform all possible synchronization operations, thereby reducing overall overhead while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Post-synchronization operations in multi-tile processor computing is described. An example of an apparatus an apparatus includes a memory to store data for processing, including data for an application; and one or more processors including a graphical processing unit (GPU), the GPU including multiple compute engine tiles including multiple processing resources, and a dispatcher for dispatching kernels for processing by the compute engine tiles, wherein each of the compute engine tiles is to write a signal to a location in the memory upon the compute engine tile completing processing of a partition of a first kernel, wherein the location is a same location for each of the plurality of compute engine tiles.