扫描转换为图形流水线的核心部分,许多高性能的图形硬件都是采用并行的扫描转换结构。现代GPU(graphic processing unit)用于高性能计算时,主要依靠其极大的系统吞吐率,但是用基于传统的状态管理方法维持命令顺序性时会造成处理单元的停顿,降低系统的吞吐能力。提出一种新的状态管理方法,将命令分为计算与控制两类,对于控制类的命令由状态处理单元生成状态掩模(state-mask),减少了状态管理中的广播通信,降低了保持命令顺序性和状态管理的复杂性。仿真结果表明所提出状态管理方法同传统的状态管理方法相比,在游戏等后端状态变化明显的图形应用中,扫描引擎利用率提高了5%~9%。

Scan-convension is the essential part of the graphic pipeline. It takes full advantage of data parallel processing. High performance computing mainly relies on large throughput, but the conventional state management method in the graphics pipeline reduces the throughput because of processing unit stalling. An efficient state management method is proposed in this paper. In order to maintain command ordering, the proposed method divides the commands into two classes: compute command and control command. The method reduces the complexity of maintaining ordering and state management compared with conventional method, and the state-mask generated by state processing unit decreases the count of the broadcast communication and reduces the bandwidth needed for state management. Experimental results show that for applications such as computer games, in which the backend states change frequently, the rate of raster engine usage is improved by 5%~9%.