Package org.lwjgl.vulkan

Class NVCudaKernelLaunch

java.lang.Object
org.lwjgl.vulkan.NVCudaKernelLaunch
public class NVCudaKernelLaunch extends Object
Interoperability between APIs can sometimes create additional overhead depending on the platform used. This extension targets deployment of existing CUDA kernels via Vulkan, with a way to directly upload PTX kernels and dispatch the kernels from Vulkan’s command buffer without the need to use interoperability between the Vulkan and CUDA contexts. However, we do encourage actual development using the native CUDA runtime for the purpose of debugging and profiling.

The application will first have to create a CUDA module using CreateCudaModuleNV then create the CUDA function entry point with CreateCudaFunctionNV.

Then in order to dispatch this function, the application will create a command buffer where it will launch the kernel with CmdCudaLaunchKernelNV.

When done, the application will then destroy the function handle, as well as the CUDA module handle with DestroyCudaFunctionNV and DestroyCudaModuleNV.

To reduce the impact of compilation time, this extension offers the capability to return a binary cache from the PTX that was provided. For this, a first query for the required cache size is made with GetCudaModuleCacheNV with a NULL pointer to a buffer and with a valid pointer receiving the size; then another call of the same function with a valid pointer to a buffer to retrieve the data. The resulting cache could then be used later for further runs of this application by sending this cache instead of the PTX code (using the same CreateCudaModuleNV), thus significantly speeding up the initialization of the CUDA module.

As with VkPipelineCache, the binary cache depends on the hardware architecture. The application must assume the cache might fail, and need to handle falling back to the original PTX code as necessary. Most often, the cache will succeed if the same GPU driver and architecture is used between the cache generation from PTX and the use of this cache. In the event of a new driver version, or if using a different GPU architecture, the cache is likely to become invalid.

Name String
VK_NV_cuda_kernel_launch
Extension Type
Device extension
Registered Extension Number
308
Revision
  • This is a provisional extension and must be used with caution. See the description of provisional header files for enablement and stability details.
API Interactions
  • Interacts with VK_EXT_debug_report
Contact
Other Extension Metadata
Last Modified Date
2020-09-30
Contributors
  • Eric Werness, NVIDIA