Dependency Controls for Mid-Render Compute Shaders on a Graphics Processor

A method, comprising:

• executing, by a computing system, one or more vertex shaders for a graphics render;
• generating, by the computing system, fragment data based on geometry data associated with the one or more vertex shaders;
• buffering, by the computing system, in received order for at least a portion of a graphics frame:
• the geometry data, corresponding generated fragment data, and mid-render compute command data;
• performing, by the computing system, one or more tests that cull a portion of buffered geometry data such that it is no longer valid for subsequent processing;
• and
• determining, by the computing system, whether to initiate mid-render compute shaders programs in response to buffered mid-render compute commands based on condition information associated with the mid-render compute commands.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions of a hardware description programming language stored thereon that, when processed by a computing system, program the computing system to generate a computer simulation model, wherein the model represents a hardware circuit that includes:

• graphics processor circuitry that includes:
• shader circuitry configured to execute one or more vertex shaders for a graphics render;
• rasterization circuitry configured to:
• generate fragment data based on geometry data associated with the one or more vertex shaders;
• buffer, in received order for at least a portion of a graphics frame:
• the geometry data, corresponding generated fragment data, and mid-render compute command data;
• and
• perform one or more tests to potentially cull buffered geometry data such that it is no longer valid for subsequent processing;
• and
• control circuitry configured to determine whether to initiate mid-render compute shaders programs on the shader circuitry in response to buffered mid-render compute commands based on condition information associated with the mid-render compute commands, including to:
• determine to initiate a first compute shader with a first corresponding condition only if at least some geometry data, that was buffered before a first mid-render compute command, remains valid after the one or more tests;
• and
• determine to initiate a second compute shader with a second corresponding condition only if at least some geometry data, that was buffered after a second mid-render compute command, remains valid after the one or more tests.