Texel Data Structure for GPU Shader Memory Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current graphics processing systems face inefficiencies in address translation and cache management due to the conventional data structure for primitive texels, which causes excessive address translations and cache loading, especially when multiple texels span multiple memory pages.
Innovation Solution
A data structure and method where multiple primitive texels corresponding to a composite texel are interleaved within a single memory page, reducing the need for address translations and cache loading by allowing all required texels to be fetched with a single translation and minimizing waste in memory usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple primitive texels are stored in separate memory pages according to conventional data structures, then each texel can be individually addressed, but excessive address translations and cache loading occur reducing rendering efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple primitive texels that correspond to the same composite texel into a single memory page structure. This combining approach allows the graphics processing unit to fetch all required primitive texels for a composite texel in a single memory operation, eliminating the need for multiple separate address translations and cache loading operations that would occur with conventional separate page storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the memory page into multiple banks, where each bank stores a portion of the primitive texels. This segmentation allows parallel access to different banks simultaneously, further reducing the time required to fetch all primitive texels while maintaining the benefit of single-page storage. The segmented bank structure enables efficient utilization of memory bandwidth without requiring multiple page fetches.
2Loss of energy
If multiple primitive texels are stored in separate memory pages, then individual texel addressing is enabled, but cache bandwidth consumption increases due to repeated loading
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple primitive texels into a single memory page, which reduces cache bandwidth consumption by ensuring that all required texels are loaded into cache in a single operation rather than through multiple separate loading operations. This merging eliminates redundant cache loading overhead while the bank segmentation maintains manageable data structure complexity through organized parallel access paths.
3Productivity
If conventional texel data structures are used, then standard memory addressing applies, but excessive unneeded data fetching occurs reducing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by organizing memory storage according to the specific access pattern required by composite texel rendering. Instead of uniform storage, the system stores primitive texels in a localized manner within the same memory page according to their correspondence with composite texels. This localized organization ensures that only the specific primitive texels needed for each composite texel are fetched, eliminating unnecessary data transfer while maintaining standard addressing compatibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A graphics processing subsystem and a method of shading are provided. In one embodiment, the subsystem includes: (1) a memory configured to contain a texel data structure according to which multiple primitive texels corresponding to a particular composite texel are contained in a single page of the memory and (2) a graphics processing unit configured to communicate with the memory via a data bus and execute a shader to fetch the multiple primitive texels contained in the single page to create the particular composite texel.