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  • Kenneth Graunke's avatar
    intel/compiler: Implement TCS 8_PATCH mode and INTEL_DEBUG=tcs8 · 646924cf
    Kenneth Graunke authored
    
    
    Our tessellation control shaders can be dispatched in several modes.
    
    - SINGLE_PATCH (Gen7+) processes a single patch per thread, with each
      channel corresponding to a different patch vertex.  PATCHLIST_N will
      launch (N / 8) threads.  If N is less than 8, some channels will be
      disabled, leaving some untapped hardware capabilities.  Conditionals
      based on gl_InvocationID are non-uniform, which means that they'll
      often have to execute both paths.  However, if there are fewer than
      8 vertices, all invocations will happen within a single thread, so
      barriers can become no-ops, which is nice.  We also burn a maximum
      of 4 registers for ICP handles, so we can compile without regard for
      the value of N.  It also works in all cases.
    
    - DUAL_PATCH mode processes up to two patches at a time, where the first
      four channels come from patch 1, and the second group of four come
      from patch 2.  This tries to provide better EU utilization for small
      patches (N <= 4).  It cannot be used in all cases.
    
    - 8_PATCH mode processes 8 patches at a time, with a thread launched per
      vertex in the patch.  Each channel corresponds to the same vertex, but
      in each of the 8 patches.  This utilizes all channels even for small
      patches.  It also makes conditions on gl_InvocationID uniform, leading
      to proper jumps.  Barriers, unfortunately, become real.  Worse, for
      PATCHLIST_N, the thread payload burns N registers for ICP handles.
      This can burn up to 32 registers, or 1/4 of our register file, for
      URB handles.  For Vulkan (and DX), we know the number of vertices at
      compile time, so we can limit the amount of waste.  In GL, the patch
      dimension is dynamic state, so we either would have to waste all 32
      (not reasonable) or guess (badly) and recompile.  This is unfortunate.
      Because we can only spawn 16 thread instances, we can only use this
      mode for PATCHLIST_16 and smaller.  The rest must use SINGLE_PATCH.
    
    This patch implements the new 8_PATCH TCS mode, but leaves us using
    SINGLE_PATCH by default.  A new INTEL_DEBUG=tcs8 flag will switch to
    using 8_PATCH mode for testing and benchmarking purposes.  We may
    want to consider using 8_PATCH mode in Vulkan in some cases.
    
    The data I've seen shows that 8_PATCH mode can be more efficient in
    some cases, but SINGLE_PATCH mode (the one we use today) is faster
    in other cases.  Ultimately, the TES matters much more than the TCS
    for performance, so the decision may not matter much.
    
    Reviewed-by: default avatarJason Ekstrand <jason@jlekstrand.net>
    646924cf