Mesh Shading Notes¶

Mesh shaders support is present on Turing and later. It reuses the 3D engine and regular graphics stages.

Draw¶

When performing a draw with a mesh shader bound, SET_DRAW_CONTROL_A needs to be used while ignoring the base indices.

This can be done with the following commands: .. code-block:

NVC597_SET_VERTEX_ID_BASE
   .V = (0x0)
NVC597_SET_DRAW_CONTROL_A
   .TOPOLOGY = POINTS
   .PRIMITIVE_ID = FIRST
   .INSTANCE_ID = FIRST
   .SPLIT_MODE = NORMAL_BEGIN_NORMAL_END
   .INSTANCE_ITERATE_ENABLE = FALSE
   .IGNORE_GLOBAL_BASE_VERTEX_INDEX = TRUE
   .IGNORE_GLOBAL_BASE_INSTANCE_INDEX = TRUE
NVC597_DRAW_VERTEX_ARRAY_BEGIN_END_A
   .START = (0x0)
NVC597_DRAW_VERTEX_ARRAY_BEGIN_END_B
   .COUNT = ($groupCount)

Where:

$groupCount is the number of local workgroups to dispatch.

NOTE: The topology of SET_DRAW_CONTROL_A will be ignored and SET_MESH_SHADER_A topology will be used.

Stages¶

Before binding a task or mesh shader, SET_MESH_CONTROL needs to be set.

Shared Memory¶

Shared memory is allocated in the output ISBE Attribute region after all attributes.

Part of the shared memory can be made accessible to the next stage as part of the input ISBE Attribute region using .OUTPUT_TO_M_S_LINES.

As such, the task payload is the first part of the shared memory on the task stage.

Task¶

The task shader is always bound as a vertex shader.

Additionally, SET_MESH_INIT_SHADER is used to set the number of local invocations to use and the size used for shared memory.

This can be done with the following command:

NVC597_SET_MESH_INIT_SHADER
   .THREAD_COUNT = ($thread_count)
   .LOCAL_BUFFER_LINES = ($local_buffer_lines)
   .OUTPUT_TO_M_S_LINES = ($output_to_m_s_lines)

Where:

$thread_count is the number of local invocations (up to 32).
$local_buffer_lines is the total amount of shared memory lines (including task payload) to allocate in the output ISBE Attribute region after all attributes.
$output_to_m_s_lines is the total amount of shared memory lines that will be available to the next stage.

NOTE: The size of a memory line is 128 bytes.

The workgroup_index is implemented using the VERTEX_ID read from the input ISBE Attribute region (with SKEW applied).

EmitMeshTasksEXT is lowered to the equivalent pseudo code:

void EmitMeshTasksEXT(uint x, uint y, uint z) {
   uint taskCount = x * y * z;

   ISBEWR.O.ATTR.32 [0x04], taskCount;
   ISBEWR.O.ATTR.32 [0x08], x;
   ISBEWR.O.ATTR.32 [0x0C], y;
   ISBEWR.O.ATTR.32 [0x10], z;
}

Mesh¶

The mesh shader is bound to the vertex stage if no task shader is present or the tess control stage otherwise.

Attributes are stored in the output ISBE Attribute region with SKEW applied.

If any per primitive attributes are in use, they are stored after all per vertex attributes and the geometry stage will be enabled in passthrough mode with only its program header present.

For more details about the ISBE Attribute or Map layout, see the dedicated ISBE page.

Additionally, SET_MESH_SHADER_A and SET_MESH_SHADER_B are used to set the number of local invocations to use, the size used for shared memory and topology details.

This can be done with the following command:

NVC597_SET_MESH_SHADER_A
   .OUTPUT_TOPOLOGY = $topology
   .MAX_VERTEX = ($max_vertex)
   .MAX_PRIMITIVE = ($max_primitive)
NVC597_SET_MESH_SHADER_B
   .SHARED_MEM_LINES = ($shared_mem_lines)
   .THREAD_COUNT = ($thread_count)

Where:

$topology is the topology to use.
$max_vertex is the max count of vertices used by the mesh shader.
$max_primitive is the max count primitives used by the mesh shader.
$shared_mem_lines is the total amount of shared memory line to allocate in the output ISBE Attribute region after all attributes.
$thread_count is the number of local invocations (up to 32).

NOTE: The size of a memory line is 128 bytes.

The workgroup_index is implemented in the following way:

If a task shader is present, the value is read from the input ISBE Attribute region without SKEW applied.
Otherwise, it is implemented using the VERTEX_ID read from the input ISBE Attribute region with SKEW applied.

SetMeshOutputsEXT is lowered to the equivalent pseudo code:

void SetMeshOutputsEXT(uint vertexCount, uint primitiveCount) {
   // vertexCount is unused
   ISBEWR.O.MAP.32 [0x3], primitiveCount;
}

NOTE: This is effectively a write to offset 0x0 but the output ISBE Map region process writes in reverse.

All primitive indices are stored as 8-bit indices starting at offset 0x4 in the ouptut ISBE Map region.

Hardware limitations¶

Only up to 32 local invocations are supported.
The shared memory being part of the ISBE Attribute region makes it that we do not have any atomics for it.
Task / mesh invocations need to be counted inside the shader.