Additional Capabilities

This chapter describes additional capabilities beyond the minimum capabilities described in the Limits and Formats chapters, including:

Additional Image Capabilities

Additional image capabilities, such as larger dimensions or additional sample counts for certain image types, or additional capabilities for linear tiling format images, are described in this section.

To query additional capabilities specific to image types, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    VkFormat                                    format,
    VkImageType                                 type,
    VkImageTiling                               tiling,
    VkImageUsageFlags                           usage,
    VkImageCreateFlags                          flags,
    VkImageFormatProperties*                    pImageFormatProperties);

The format, type, tiling, usage, and flags parameters correspond to parameters that would be consumed by vkCreateImage (as members of VkImageCreateInfo).

If format is not a supported image format, or if the combination of format, type, tiling, usage, and flags is not supported for images, then vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties returns VK_ERROR_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED.

The limitations on an image format that are reported by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties have the following property: if usage1 and usage2 of type VkImageUsageFlags are such that the bits set in usage1 are a subset of the bits set in usage2, and flags1 and flags2 of type VkImageCreateFlags are such that the bits set in flags1 are a subset of the bits set in flags2, then the limitations for usage1 and flags1 must be no more strict than the limitations for usage2 and flags2, for all values of format, type, and tiling.

If the hostImageCopy feature is supported, usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT, and flags does not include either of VK_IMAGE_CREATE_SPARSE_BINDING_BIT, VK_IMAGE_CREATE_SPARSE_RESIDENCY_BIT, or VK_IMAGE_CREATE_SPARSE_ALIASED_BIT, then the result of calls to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties with identical parameters except for the inclusion of VK_IMAGE_USAGE_HOST_TRANSFER_BIT in usage must be identical.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-format-parameter
    format must be a valid VkFormat value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-type-parameter
    type must be a valid VkImageType value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-tiling-parameter
    tiling must be a valid VkImageTiling value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-usage-parameter
    usage must be a valid combination of VkImageUsageFlagBits values

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-usage-requiredbitmask
    usage must not be 0

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-flags-parameter
    flags must be a valid combination of VkImageCreateFlagBits values

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties-pImageFormatProperties-parameter
    pImageFormatProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkImageFormatProperties structure

Return Codes
Success

  • VK_SUCCESS

Failure

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED

The VkImageFormatProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkImageFormatProperties {
    VkExtent3D            maxExtent;
    uint32_t              maxMipLevels;
    uint32_t              maxArrayLayers;
    VkSampleCountFlags    sampleCounts;
    VkDeviceSize          maxResourceSize;
} VkImageFormatProperties;

  • maxExtent are the maximum image dimensions. See the Allowed Extent Values section below for how these values are constrained by type.

  • maxMipLevels is the maximum number of mipmap levels. maxMipLevels must be equal to the number of levels in the complete mipmap chain based on the maxExtent.width, maxExtent.height, and maxExtent.depth, except when one of the following conditions is true, in which case it may instead be 1:

  • maxArrayLayers is the maximum number of array layers. maxArrayLayers must be no less than VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::maxImageArrayLayers, except when one of the following conditions is true, in which case it may instead be 1:

  • If tiling is VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT, then maxArrayLayers must not be 0.

  • sampleCounts is a bitmask of VkSampleCountFlagBits specifying all the supported sample counts for this image as described below.

  • maxResourceSize is an upper bound on the total image size in bytes, inclusive of all image subresources. Implementations may have an address space limit on total size of a resource, which is advertised by this property. maxResourceSize must be at least 231.

There is no mechanism to query the size of an image before creating it, to compare that size against maxResourceSize. If an application attempts to create an image that exceeds this limit, the creation will fail and vkCreateImage will return VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY. While the advertised limit must be at least 231, it may not be possible to create an image that approaches that size, particularly for VK_IMAGE_TYPE_1D.

If the combination of parameters to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties is not supported by the implementation for use in vkCreateImage, then all members of VkImageFormatProperties will be filled with zero.

Filling VkImageFormatProperties with zero for unsupported formats is an exception to the usual rule that output structures have undefined contents on error. This exception was unintentional, but is preserved for backwards compatibility.

To determine the image capabilities compatible with an external memory handle type, call:

// Provided by VK_NV_external_memory_capabilities
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    VkFormat                                    format,
    VkImageType                                 type,
    VkImageTiling                               tiling,
    VkImageUsageFlags                           usage,
    VkImageCreateFlags                          flags,
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagsNV           externalHandleType,
    VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV*          pExternalImageFormatProperties);

If externalHandleType is 0, pExternalImageFormatProperties->imageFormatProperties will return the same values as a call to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties, and the other members of pExternalImageFormatProperties will all be 0. Otherwise, they are filled in as described for VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-externalHandleType-07721
    externalHandleType must not have more than one bit set

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-format-parameter
    format must be a valid VkFormat value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-type-parameter
    type must be a valid VkImageType value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-tiling-parameter
    tiling must be a valid VkImageTiling value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-usage-parameter
    usage must be a valid combination of VkImageUsageFlagBits values

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-usage-requiredbitmask
    usage must not be 0

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-flags-parameter
    flags must be a valid combination of VkImageCreateFlagBits values

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-externalHandleType-parameter
    externalHandleType must be a valid combination of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBitsNV values

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV-pExternalImageFormatProperties-parameter
    pExternalImageFormatProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV structure

Return Codes
Success

  • VK_SUCCESS

Failure

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED

The VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_NV_external_memory_capabilities
typedef struct VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV {
    VkImageFormatProperties              imageFormatProperties;
    VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagsNV       externalMemoryFeatures;
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagsNV    exportFromImportedHandleTypes;
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagsNV    compatibleHandleTypes;
} VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV;

Bits which can be set in VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV::externalMemoryFeatures, indicating properties of the external memory handle type, are:

// Provided by VK_NV_external_memory_capabilities
typedef enum VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBitsNV {
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT_NV = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT_NV = 0x00000002,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT_NV = 0x00000004,
} VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBitsNV;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT_NV specifies that external memory of the specified type must be created as a dedicated allocation when used in the manner specified.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT_NV specifies that the implementation supports exporting handles of the specified type.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT_NV specifies that the implementation supports importing handles of the specified type.

// Provided by VK_NV_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkFlags VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagsNV;

VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagsNV is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBitsNV.

To query additional capabilities specific to image types, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2*     pImageFormatInfo,
    VkImageFormatProperties2*                   pImageFormatProperties);

or the equivalent command

// Provided by VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2KHR(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2*     pImageFormatInfo,
    VkImageFormatProperties2*                   pImageFormatProperties);

vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 behaves similarly to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties, with the ability to return extended information in a pNext chain of output structures.

If the pNext chain of pImageFormatInfo includes a VkVideoProfileListInfoKHR structure with a profileCount member greater than 0, then this command returns format capabilities specific to image types used in conjunction with the specified video profiles. In this case, this command will return one of the video-profile-specific error codes if any of the profiles specified via VkVideoProfileListInfoKHR::pProfiles are not supported. Furthermore, if VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2::usage includes any image usage flag not supported by the specified video profiles, then this command returns VK_ERROR_IMAGE_USAGE_NOT_SUPPORTED_KHR.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2-pNext-01868
    If the pNext chain of pImageFormatProperties includes a VkAndroidHardwareBufferUsageANDROID structure, the pNext chain of pImageFormatInfo must include a VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo structure with handleType set to VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_BIT_ANDROID

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2-pNext-09004
    If the pNext chain of pImageFormatProperties includes a VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQuery structure, pImageFormatInfo->usage must contain VK_IMAGE_USAGE_HOST_TRANSFER_BIT

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2-pImageFormatInfo-parameter
    pImageFormatInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2-pImageFormatProperties-parameter
    pImageFormatProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkImageFormatProperties2 structure

Return Codes
Success

  • VK_SUCCESS

Failure

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED

  • VK_ERROR_IMAGE_USAGE_NOT_SUPPORTED_KHR

  • VK_ERROR_VIDEO_PROFILE_OPERATION_NOT_SUPPORTED_KHR

  • VK_ERROR_VIDEO_PROFILE_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED_KHR

  • VK_ERROR_VIDEO_PICTURE_LAYOUT_NOT_SUPPORTED_KHR

  • VK_ERROR_VIDEO_PROFILE_CODEC_NOT_SUPPORTED_KHR

The VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 {
    VkStructureType       sType;
    const void*           pNext;
    VkFormat              format;
    VkImageType           type;
    VkImageTiling         tiling;
    VkImageUsageFlags     usage;
    VkImageCreateFlags    flags;
} VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2
typedef VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2KHR;

The members of VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 correspond to the arguments to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties, with sType and pNext added for extensibility.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2-tiling-02249
    tiling must be VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT if and only if the pNext chain includes VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2-tiling-02313
    If tiling is VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT and flags contains VK_IMAGE_CREATE_MUTABLE_FORMAT_BIT, then the pNext chain must include a VkImageFormatListCreateInfo structure with non-zero viewFormatCount

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkImageFormatProperties2 structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkImageFormatProperties2 {
    VkStructureType            sType;
    void*                      pNext;
    VkImageFormatProperties    imageFormatProperties;
} VkImageFormatProperties2;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2
typedef VkImageFormatProperties2 VkImageFormatProperties2KHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure. The pNext chain of VkImageFormatProperties2 is used to allow the specification of additional capabilities to be returned from vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2.

  • imageFormatProperties is a VkImageFormatProperties structure in which capabilities are returned.

If the combination of parameters to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 is not supported by the implementation for use in vkCreateImage, then all members of imageFormatProperties will be filled with zero.

Filling imageFormatProperties with zero for unsupported formats is an exception to the usual rule that output structures have undefined contents on error. This exception was unintentional, but is preserved for backwards compatibility. This exception only applies to imageFormatProperties, not sType, pNext, or any structures chained from pNext.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

To determine if texture gather functions that take explicit LOD and/or bias argument values can be used with a given image format, add a VkTextureLODGatherFormatPropertiesAMD structure to the pNext chain of the VkImageFormatProperties2 structure in a call to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2.

The VkTextureLODGatherFormatPropertiesAMD structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_AMD_texture_gather_bias_lod
typedef struct VkTextureLODGatherFormatPropertiesAMD {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkBool32           supportsTextureGatherLODBiasAMD;
} VkTextureLODGatherFormatPropertiesAMD;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • supportsTextureGatherLODBiasAMD tells if the image format can be used with texture gather bias/LOD functions, as introduced by the VK_AMD_texture_gather_bias_lod extension. This field is set by the implementation. An application-specified value is ignored.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkTextureLODGatherFormatPropertiesAMD-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_TEXTURE_LOD_GATHER_FORMAT_PROPERTIES_AMD

To determine the image capabilities compatible with an external memory handle type, add a VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo structure to the pNext chain of the VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure and a VkExternalImageFormatProperties structure to the pNext chain of the VkImageFormatProperties2 structure.

The VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo {
    VkStructureType                       sType;
    const void*                           pNext;
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits    handleType;
} VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • handleType is a VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits value specifying the memory handle type that will be used with the memory associated with the image.

If handleType is 0, vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 will behave as if VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo was not present, and VkExternalImageFormatProperties will be ignored.

If handleType is not compatible with the format, type, tiling, usage, and flags specified in VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2, then vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 returns VK_ERROR_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_IMAGE_FORMAT_INFO

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo-handleType-parameter
    If handleType is not 0, handleType must be a valid VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits value

Possible values of VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo::handleType, specifying an external memory handle type, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef enum VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits {
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT = 0x00000004,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_BIT = 0x00000008,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_KMT_BIT = 0x00000010,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_HEAP_BIT = 0x00000020,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_RESOURCE_BIT = 0x00000040,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_external_memory_dma_buf
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_DMA_BUF_BIT_EXT = 0x00000200,
  // Provided by VK_ANDROID_external_memory_android_hardware_buffer
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_BIT_ANDROID = 0x00000400,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_external_memory_host
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_ALLOCATION_BIT_EXT = 0x00000080,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_external_memory_host
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_MAPPED_FOREIGN_MEMORY_BIT_EXT = 0x00000100,
  // Provided by VK_FUCHSIA_external_memory
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ZIRCON_VMO_BIT_FUCHSIA = 0x00000800,
  // Provided by VK_NV_external_memory_rdma
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_RDMA_ADDRESS_BIT_NV = 0x00001000,
  // Provided by VK_QNX_external_memory_screen_buffer
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_SCREEN_BUFFER_BIT_QNX = 0x00004000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_KMT_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_KMT_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_HEAP_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_HEAP_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_RESOURCE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_RESOURCE_BIT,
} VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBitsKHR;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT specifies a POSIX file descriptor handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It must be compatible with the POSIX system calls dup, dup2, close, and the non-standard system call dup3. Additionally, it must be transportable over a socket using an SCM_RIGHTS control message. It owns a reference to the underlying memory resource represented by its Vulkan memory object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT specifies an NT handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It must be compatible with the functions DuplicateHandle, CloseHandle, CompareObjectHandles, GetHandleInformation, and SetHandleInformation. It owns a reference to the underlying memory resource represented by its Vulkan memory object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT specifies a global share handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It is not compatible with any native APIs. It does not own a reference to the underlying memory resource represented by its Vulkan memory object, and will therefore become invalid when all Vulkan memory objects associated with it are destroyed.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_BIT specifies an NT handle returned by IDXGIResource1::CreateSharedHandle referring to a Direct3D 10 or 11 texture resource. It owns a reference to the memory used by the Direct3D resource.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_KMT_BIT specifies a global share handle returned by IDXGIResource::GetSharedHandle referring to a Direct3D 10 or 11 texture resource. It does not own a reference to the underlying Direct3D resource, and will therefore become invalid when all Vulkan memory objects and Direct3D resources associated with it are destroyed.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_HEAP_BIT specifies an NT handle returned by ID3D12Device::CreateSharedHandle referring to a Direct3D 12 heap resource. It owns a reference to the resources used by the Direct3D heap.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_RESOURCE_BIT specifies an NT handle returned by ID3D12Device::CreateSharedHandle referring to a Direct3D 12 committed resource. It owns a reference to the memory used by the Direct3D resource.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_ALLOCATION_BIT_EXT specifies a host pointer returned by a host memory allocation command. It does not own a reference to the underlying memory resource, and will therefore become invalid if the host memory is freed.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_MAPPED_FOREIGN_MEMORY_BIT_EXT specifies a host pointer to host mapped foreign memory. It does not own a reference to the underlying memory resource, and will therefore become invalid if the foreign memory is unmapped or otherwise becomes no longer available.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_DMA_BUF_BIT_EXT is a file descriptor for a Linux dma_buf. It owns a reference to the underlying memory resource represented by its Vulkan memory object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_BIT_ANDROID specifies an AHardwareBuffer object defined by the Android NDK. See Android Hardware Buffers for more details of this handle type.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ZIRCON_VMO_BIT_FUCHSIA is a Zircon handle to a virtual memory object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_RDMA_ADDRESS_BIT_NV is a handle to an allocation accessible by remote devices. It owns a reference to the underlying memory resource represented by its Vulkan memory object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_SCREEN_BUFFER_BIT_QNX specifies a _screen_buffer object defined by the QNX SDP. See QNX Screen Buffer for more details of this handle type.

Some external memory handle types can only be shared within the same underlying physical device and/or the same driver version, as defined in the following table:

Table 1. External Memory Handle Types Compatibility

Handle type

VkPhysicalDeviceIDProperties::driverUUID

VkPhysicalDeviceIDProperties::deviceUUID

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_KMT_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_HEAP_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_RESOURCE_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_ALLOCATION_BIT_EXT

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_MAPPED_FOREIGN_MEMORY_BIT_EXT

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_DMA_BUF_BIT_EXT

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_BIT_ANDROID

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ZIRCON_VMO_BIT_FUCHSIA

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_RDMA_ADDRESS_BIT_NV

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_SCREEN_BUFFER_BIT_QNX

No restriction

No restriction

The above table does not restrict the drivers and devices with which VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_ALLOCATION_BIT_EXT and VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_MAPPED_FOREIGN_MEMORY_BIT_EXT may be shared, as these handle types inherently mean memory that does not come from the same device, as they import memory from the host or a foreign device, respectively.

Even though the above table does not restrict the drivers and devices with which VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_DMA_BUF_BIT_EXT may be shared, query mechanisms exist in the Vulkan API that prevent the import of incompatible dma-bufs (such as vkGetMemoryFdPropertiesKHR) and that prevent incompatible usage of dma-bufs (such as VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo and VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo).

 
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef VkFlags VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagsKHR;

VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits.

The VkExternalImageFormatProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkExternalImageFormatProperties {
    VkStructureType               sType;
    void*                         pNext;
    VkExternalMemoryProperties    externalMemoryProperties;
} VkExternalImageFormatProperties;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalImageFormatProperties VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • externalMemoryProperties is a VkExternalMemoryProperties structure specifying various capabilities of the external handle type when used with the specified image creation parameters.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkExternalImageFormatProperties-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_IMAGE_FORMAT_PROPERTIES

The VkExternalMemoryProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkExternalMemoryProperties {
    VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlags       externalMemoryFeatures;
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags    exportFromImportedHandleTypes;
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags    compatibleHandleTypes;
} VkExternalMemoryProperties;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalMemoryProperties VkExternalMemoryPropertiesKHR;

compatibleHandleTypes must include at least handleType. Inclusion of a handle type in compatibleHandleTypes does not imply the values returned in VkImageFormatProperties2 will be the same when VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo::handleType is set to that type. The application is responsible for querying the capabilities of all handle types intended for concurrent use in a single image and intersecting them to obtain the compatible set of capabilities.

Bits which may be set in VkExternalMemoryProperties::externalMemoryFeatures, specifying features of an external memory handle type, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef enum VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBits {
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT = 0x00000004,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT,
} VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBits;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBits VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBitsKHR;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT specifies that images or buffers created with the specified parameters and handle type must use the mechanisms defined by VkMemoryDedicatedRequirements and VkMemoryDedicatedAllocateInfo to create (or import) a dedicated allocation for the image or buffer.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT specifies that handles of this type can be exported from Vulkan memory objects.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT specifies that handles of this type can be imported as Vulkan memory objects.

Because their semantics in external APIs roughly align with that of an image or buffer with a dedicated allocation in Vulkan, implementations are required to report VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT for the following external handle types:

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_BIT

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_TEXTURE_KMT_BIT

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_RESOURCE_BIT

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_BIT_ANDROID for images only

  • VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_SCREEN_BUFFER_BIT_QNX for images only

Implementations must not report VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT for buffers with external handle type VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_BIT_ANDROID. Implementations must not report VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT for buffers with external handle type VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_SCREEN_BUFFER_BIT_QNX. Implementations must not report VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_FEATURE_DEDICATED_ONLY_BIT for images or buffers with external handle type VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_ALLOCATION_BIT_EXT, or VK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_HANDLE_TYPE_HOST_MAPPED_FOREIGN_MEMORY_BIT_EXT.

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef VkFlags VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlags;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlags VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagsKHR;

VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBits.

To query the image capabilities that are compatible with a Linux DRM format modifier, set VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2::tiling to VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT and add a VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT structure to the pNext chain of VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2.

The VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_image_drm_format_modifier
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    uint64_t           drmFormatModifier;
    VkSharingMode      sharingMode;
    uint32_t           queueFamilyIndexCount;
    const uint32_t*    pQueueFamilyIndices;
} VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • drmFormatModifier is the image’s Linux DRM format modifier, corresponding to VkImageDrmFormatModifierExplicitCreateInfoEXT::modifier or to VkImageDrmFormatModifierListCreateInfoEXT::pModifiers.

  • sharingMode specifies how the image will be accessed by multiple queue families.

  • queueFamilyIndexCount is the number of entries in the pQueueFamilyIndices array.

  • pQueueFamilyIndices is a pointer to an array of queue families that will access the image. It is ignored if sharingMode is not VK_SHARING_MODE_CONCURRENT.

If the drmFormatModifier is incompatible with the parameters specified in VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 and its pNext chain, then vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 returns VK_ERROR_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED. The implementation must support the query of any drmFormatModifier, including unknown and invalid modifier values.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT-sharingMode-02314
    If sharingMode is VK_SHARING_MODE_CONCURRENT, then pQueueFamilyIndices must be a valid pointer to an array of queueFamilyIndexCount uint32_t values

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT-sharingMode-02315
    If sharingMode is VK_SHARING_MODE_CONCURRENT, then queueFamilyIndexCount must be greater than 1

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT-sharingMode-02316
    If sharingMode is VK_SHARING_MODE_CONCURRENT, each element of pQueueFamilyIndices must be unique and must be less than the pQueueFamilyPropertyCount returned by vkGetPhysicalDeviceQueueFamilyProperties2 for the physicalDevice that was used to create device

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_IMAGE_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_INFO_EXT

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT-sharingMode-parameter
    sharingMode must be a valid VkSharingMode value

To determine the number of combined image samplers required to support a multi-planar format, add VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties to the pNext chain of the VkImageFormatProperties2 structure in a call to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2.

The VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    uint32_t           combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount;
} VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_sampler_ycbcr_conversion
typedef VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatPropertiesKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount is the number of combined image sampler descriptors that the implementation uses to access the format.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SAMPLER_YCBCR_CONVERSION_IMAGE_FORMAT_PROPERTIES

combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount is a number between 1 and the number of planes in the format. A descriptor set layout binding with immutable Y′CBCR conversion samplers will have a maximum combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount which is the maximum across all formats supported by its samplers of the combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount for each format. Descriptor sets with that layout will internally use that maximum combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount descriptors for each descriptor in the binding. This expanded number of descriptors will be consumed from the descriptor pool when a descriptor set is allocated, and counts towards the maxDescriptorSetSamplers, maxDescriptorSetSampledImages, maxPerStageDescriptorSamplers, and maxPerStageDescriptorSampledImages limits.

All descriptors in a binding use the same maximum combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount descriptors to allow implementations to use a uniform stride for dynamic indexing of the descriptors in the binding.

For example, consider a descriptor set layout binding with two descriptors and immutable samplers for multi-planar formats that have VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties::combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount values of 2 and 3 respectively. There are two descriptors in the binding and the maximum combinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount is 3, so descriptor sets with this layout consume 6 descriptors from the descriptor pool. To create a descriptor pool that allows allocating four descriptor sets with this layout, descriptorCount must be at least 24.

Instead of querying all the potential formats that the application might use in the descriptor layout, the application can use the VkPhysicalDeviceMaintenance6Properties::maxCombinedImageSamplerDescriptorCount property to determine the maximum descriptor size that will accommodate any and all formats that require a sampler Y′CBCR conversion supported by the implementation.

To obtain optimal Android hardware buffer usage flags for specific image creation parameters, add a VkAndroidHardwareBufferUsageANDROID structure to the pNext chain of a VkImageFormatProperties2 structure passed to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2. This structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_ANDROID_external_memory_android_hardware_buffer
typedef struct VkAndroidHardwareBufferUsageANDROID {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    uint64_t           androidHardwareBufferUsage;
} VkAndroidHardwareBufferUsageANDROID;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • androidHardwareBufferUsage returns the Android hardware buffer usage flags.

The androidHardwareBufferUsage field must include Android hardware buffer usage flags listed in the AHardwareBuffer Usage Equivalence table when the corresponding Vulkan image usage or image creation flags are included in the usage or flags fields of VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2. It must include at least one GPU usage flag (AHARDWAREBUFFER_USAGE_GPU_*), even if none of the corresponding Vulkan usages or flags are requested.

Requiring at least one GPU usage flag ensures that Android hardware buffer memory will be allocated in a memory pool accessible to the Vulkan implementation, and that specializing the memory layout based on usage flags does not prevent it from being compatible with Vulkan. Implementations may avoid unnecessary restrictions caused by this requirement by using vendor usage flags to indicate that only the Vulkan uses indicated in VkImageFormatProperties2 are required.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkAndroidHardwareBufferUsageANDROID-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_USAGE_ANDROID

To query if using VK_IMAGE_USAGE_HOST_TRANSFER_BIT has a negative impact on device performance when accessing an image, add VK_IMAGE_USAGE_HOST_TRANSFER_BIT to VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2::usage, and add a VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQuery structure to the pNext chain of a VkImageFormatProperties2 structure passed to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2. This structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
typedef struct VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQuery {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkBool32           optimalDeviceAccess;
    VkBool32           identicalMemoryLayout;
} VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQuery;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_EXT_host_image_copy
typedef VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQuery VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQueryEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • optimalDeviceAccess returns VK_TRUE if use of host image copy has no adverse effect on device access performance, compared to an image that is created with exact same creation parameters, and bound to the same VkDeviceMemory, except that VK_IMAGE_USAGE_HOST_TRANSFER_BIT is replaced with VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT and VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_DST_BIT.

  • identicalMemoryLayout returns VK_TRUE if use of host image copy has no impact on memory layout compared to an image that is created with exact same creation parameters, and bound to the same VkDeviceMemory, except that VK_IMAGE_USAGE_HOST_TRANSFER_BIT is replaced with VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT and VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_DST_BIT.

The implementation may return VK_FALSE in optimalDeviceAccess if identicalMemoryLayout is VK_FALSE. If identicalMemoryLayout is VK_TRUE, optimalDeviceAccess must be VK_TRUE.

The implementation may return VK_TRUE in optimalDeviceAccess while identicalMemoryLayout is VK_FALSE. In this situation, any device performance impact should not be measurable.

If VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2::format is a block-compressed format and vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 returns VK_SUCCESS, the implementation must return VK_TRUE in optimalDeviceAccess.

Applications can make use of optimalDeviceAccess to determine their resource copying strategy. If a resource is expected to be accessed more on device than on the host, and the implementation considers the resource sub-optimally accessed, it is likely better to use device copies instead.

Layout not being identical yet still considered optimal for device access could happen if the implementation has different memory layout patterns, some of which are easier to access on the host.

The most practical reason for optimalDeviceAccess to be VK_FALSE is that host image access may disable framebuffer compression where it would otherwise have been enabled. This represents far more efficient host image access since no compression algorithm is required to read or write to the image, but it would impact device access performance. Some implementations may only set optimalDeviceAccess to VK_FALSE if certain conditions are met, such as specific image usage flags or creation flags.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkHostImageCopyDevicePerformanceQuery-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_HOST_IMAGE_COPY_DEVICE_PERFORMANCE_QUERY

To determine if cubic filtering can be used with a given image format and a given image view type add a VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT structure to the pNext chain of the VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure, and a VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT structure to the pNext chain of the VkImageFormatProperties2 structure.

The VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_filter_cubic
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkImageViewType    imageViewType;
} VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • imageViewType is a VkImageViewType value specifying the type of the image view.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_IMAGE_VIEW_IMAGE_FORMAT_INFO_EXT

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT-imageViewType-parameter
    imageViewType must be a valid VkImageViewType value

The VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_filter_cubic
typedef struct VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkBool32           filterCubic;
    VkBool32           filterCubicMinmax;
} VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • filterCubic tells if image format, image type and image view type can be used with cubic filtering. This field is set by the implementation. An application-specified value is ignored.

  • filterCubicMinmax tells if image format, image type and image view type can be used with cubic filtering and minmax filtering. This field is set by the implementation. An application-specified value is ignored.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_FILTER_CUBIC_IMAGE_VIEW_IMAGE_FORMAT_PROPERTIES_EXT

Valid Usage

Supported Sample Counts

vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties returns a bitmask of VkSampleCountFlagBits in sampleCounts specifying the supported sample counts for the image parameters.

sampleCounts will be VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT if at least one of the following conditions is true:

  • tiling is VK_IMAGE_TILING_LINEAR

  • type is not VK_IMAGE_TYPE_2D

  • flags contains VK_IMAGE_CREATE_CUBE_COMPATIBLE_BIT

  • Neither the VK_FORMAT_FEATURE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT flag nor the VK_FORMAT_FEATURE_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_BIT flag in VkFormatProperties::optimalTilingFeatures returned by vkGetPhysicalDeviceFormatProperties is set

  • VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo::handleType is an external handle type for which multisampled image support is not required.

  • format is one of the formats that require a sampler Y′CBCR conversion

  • usage contains VK_IMAGE_USAGE_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR

  • usage contains VK_IMAGE_USAGE_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_BIT_EXT

Otherwise, the bits set in sampleCounts will be the sample counts supported for the specified values of usage and format. For each bit set in usage, the supported sample counts relate to the limits in VkPhysicalDeviceLimits as follows:

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT and format is a floating- or fixed-point color format, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::framebufferColorSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT and format is an integer format, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceVulkan12Properties::framebufferIntegerColorSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_BIT, and format includes a depth component, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::framebufferDepthSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_BIT, and format includes a stencil component, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::framebufferStencilSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT, and format includes a color component, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::sampledImageColorSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT, and format includes a depth component, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::sampledImageDepthSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT, and format is an integer format, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::sampledImageIntegerSampleCounts

  • If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::storageImageSampleCounts

If multiple bits are set in usage, sampleCounts will be the intersection of the per-usage values described above.

If none of the bits described above are set in usage, then there is no corresponding limit in VkPhysicalDeviceLimits. In this case, sampleCounts must include at least VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT.

Allowed Extent Values Based on Image Type

Implementations may support extent values larger than the required minimum/maximum values for certain types of images. VkImageFormatProperties::maxExtent for each type is subject to the constraints below.

Implementations must support images with dimensions up to the required minimum/maximum values for all types of images. It follows that the query for additional capabilities must return extent values that are at least as large as the required values.

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_1D:

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_2D when flags does not contain VK_IMAGE_CREATE_CUBE_COMPATIBLE_BIT:

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_2D when flags contains VK_IMAGE_CREATE_CUBE_COMPATIBLE_BIT:

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_3D:

Additional Buffer Capabilities

To query the external handle types supported by buffers, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
void vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferProperties(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo*   pExternalBufferInfo,
    VkExternalBufferProperties*                 pExternalBufferProperties);

or the equivalent command

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
void vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferPropertiesKHR(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo*   pExternalBufferInfo,
    VkExternalBufferProperties*                 pExternalBufferProperties);
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferProperties-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferProperties-pExternalBufferInfo-parameter
    pExternalBufferInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo structure

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferProperties-pExternalBufferProperties-parameter
    pExternalBufferProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkExternalBufferProperties structure

The VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo {
    VkStructureType                       sType;
    const void*                           pNext;
    VkBufferCreateFlags                   flags;
    VkBufferUsageFlags                    usage;
    VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits    handleType;
} VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfoKHR;

Only usage flags representable in VkBufferUsageFlagBits are returned in this structure’s usage. If the pNext chain includes a VkBufferUsageFlags2CreateInfo structure, all usage flags of the buffer are returned in VkBufferUsageFlags2CreateInfo::usage.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_BUFFER_INFO

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL or a pointer to a valid instance of VkBufferUsageFlags2CreateInfo

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo-sType-unique
    The sType value of each struct in the pNext chain must be unique

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo-flags-parameter
    flags must be a valid combination of VkBufferCreateFlagBits values

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo-handleType-parameter
    handleType must be a valid VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits value

The VkExternalBufferProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkExternalBufferProperties {
    VkStructureType               sType;
    void*                         pNext;
    VkExternalMemoryProperties    externalMemoryProperties;
} VkExternalBufferProperties;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities
typedef VkExternalBufferProperties VkExternalBufferPropertiesKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • externalMemoryProperties is a VkExternalMemoryProperties structure specifying various capabilities of the external handle type when used with the specified buffer creation parameters.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkExternalBufferProperties-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_BUFFER_PROPERTIES

  • VUID-VkExternalBufferProperties-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

Optional Semaphore Capabilities

Semaphores may support import and export of their payload to external handles. To query the external handle types supported by semaphores, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
void vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreProperties(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo* pExternalSemaphoreInfo,
    VkExternalSemaphoreProperties*              pExternalSemaphoreProperties);

or the equivalent command

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
void vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphorePropertiesKHR(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo* pExternalSemaphoreInfo,
    VkExternalSemaphoreProperties*              pExternalSemaphoreProperties);
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreProperties-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreProperties-pExternalSemaphoreInfo-parameter
    pExternalSemaphoreInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo structure

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreProperties-pExternalSemaphoreProperties-parameter
    pExternalSemaphoreProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkExternalSemaphoreProperties structure

The VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo {
    VkStructureType                          sType;
    const void*                              pNext;
    VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits    handleType;
} VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
typedef VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • handleType is a VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits value specifying the external semaphore handle type for which capabilities will be returned.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_INFO

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL or a pointer to a valid instance of VkSemaphoreTypeCreateInfo

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo-sType-unique
    The sType value of each struct in the pNext chain must be unique

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo-handleType-parameter
    handleType must be a valid VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits value

Bits which may be set in VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo::handleType, specifying an external semaphore handle type, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef enum VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits {
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT = 0x00000004,
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT = 0x00000008,
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT = 0x00000010,
  // Provided by VK_FUCHSIA_external_semaphore
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_ZIRCON_EVENT_BIT_FUCHSIA = 0x00000080,
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_FENCE_BIT = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT,
} VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
typedef VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBitsKHR;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT specifies a POSIX file descriptor handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It must be compatible with the POSIX system calls dup, dup2, close, and the non-standard system call dup3. Additionally, it must be transportable over a socket using an SCM_RIGHTS control message. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive represented by its Vulkan semaphore object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT specifies an NT handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It must be compatible with the functions DuplicateHandle, CloseHandle, CompareObjectHandles, GetHandleInformation, and SetHandleInformation. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive represented by its Vulkan semaphore object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT specifies a global share handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It is not compatible with any native APIs. It does not own a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive represented by its Vulkan semaphore object, and will therefore become invalid when all Vulkan semaphore objects associated with it are destroyed.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT specifies an NT handle returned by ID3D12Device::CreateSharedHandle referring to a Direct3D 12 fence, or ID3D11Device5::CreateFence referring to a Direct3D 11 fence. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive associated with the Direct3D fence.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D11_FENCE_BIT is an alias of VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT with the same meaning. It is provided for convenience and code clarity when interacting with D3D11 fences.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT specifies a POSIX file descriptor handle to a Linux Sync File or Android Fence object. It can be used with any native API accepting a valid sync file or fence as input. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive associated with the file descriptor. Implementations which support importing this handle type must accept any type of sync or fence FD supported by the native system they are running on.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_ZIRCON_EVENT_BIT_FUCHSIA specifies a handle to a Zircon event object. It can be used with any native API that accepts a Zircon event handle. Zircon event handles are created with ZX_RIGHTS_BASIC and ZX_RIGHTS_SIGNAL rights. Vulkan on Fuchsia uses only the ZX_EVENT_SIGNALED bit when signaling or waiting.

Handles of type VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT generated by the implementation may represent either Linux Sync Files or Android Fences at the implementation’s discretion. Applications should only use operations defined for both types of file descriptors, unless they know via means external to Vulkan the type of the file descriptor, or are prepared to deal with the system-defined operation failures resulting from using the wrong type.

Some external semaphore handle types can only be shared within the same underlying physical device and/or the same driver version, as defined in the following table:

Table 2. External Semaphore Handle Types Compatibility

Handle type

VkPhysicalDeviceIDProperties::driverUUID

VkPhysicalDeviceIDProperties::deviceUUID

VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_D3D12_FENCE_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT

No restriction

No restriction

VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_ZIRCON_EVENT_BIT_FUCHSIA

No restriction

No restriction

 
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef VkFlags VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlags;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
typedef VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlags VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagsKHR;

VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits.

The VkExternalSemaphoreProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkExternalSemaphoreProperties {
    VkStructureType                       sType;
    void*                                 pNext;
    VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlags    exportFromImportedHandleTypes;
    VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlags    compatibleHandleTypes;
    VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlags       externalSemaphoreFeatures;
} VkExternalSemaphoreProperties;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
typedef VkExternalSemaphoreProperties VkExternalSemaphorePropertiesKHR;

If handleType is not supported by the implementation, then VkExternalSemaphoreProperties::externalSemaphoreFeatures will be zero.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkExternalSemaphoreProperties-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_PROPERTIES

  • VUID-VkExternalSemaphoreProperties-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

Bits which may be set in VkExternalSemaphoreProperties::externalSemaphoreFeatures, specifying the features of an external semaphore handle type, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef enum VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagBits {
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT = 0x00000002,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT,
} VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagBits;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
typedef VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagBits VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagBitsKHR;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT specifies that handles of this type can be exported from Vulkan semaphore objects.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT specifies that handles of this type can be imported as Vulkan semaphore objects.

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef VkFlags VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlags;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities
typedef VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlags VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagsKHR;

VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagBits.

Optional Fence Capabilities

Fences may support import and export of their payload to external handles. To query the external handle types supported by fences, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
void vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceProperties(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo*    pExternalFenceInfo,
    VkExternalFenceProperties*                  pExternalFenceProperties);

or the equivalent command

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
void vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalFencePropertiesKHR(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    const VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo*    pExternalFenceInfo,
    VkExternalFenceProperties*                  pExternalFenceProperties);
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceProperties-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceProperties-pExternalFenceInfo-parameter
    pExternalFenceInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo structure

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceProperties-pExternalFenceProperties-parameter
    pExternalFenceProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkExternalFenceProperties structure

The VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo {
    VkStructureType                      sType;
    const void*                          pNext;
    VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits    handleType;
} VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
typedef VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • handleType is a VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits value specifying an external fence handle type for which capabilities will be returned.

Handles of type VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT generated by the implementation may represent either Linux Sync Files or Android Fences at the implementation’s discretion. Applications should only use operations defined for both types of file descriptors, unless they know via means external to Vulkan the type of the file descriptor, or are prepared to deal with the system-defined operation failures resulting from using the wrong type.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_FENCE_INFO

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo-handleType-parameter
    handleType must be a valid VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits value

Bits which may be set in

indicate external fence handle types, and are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef enum VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits {
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT = 0x00000004,
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT = 0x00000008,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT,
} VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
typedef VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBitsKHR;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT specifies a POSIX file descriptor handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It must be compatible with the POSIX system calls dup, dup2, close, and the non-standard system call dup3. Additionally, it must be transportable over a socket using an SCM_RIGHTS control message. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive represented by its Vulkan fence object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT specifies an NT handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It must be compatible with the functions DuplicateHandle, CloseHandle, CompareObjectHandles, GetHandleInformation, and SetHandleInformation. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive represented by its Vulkan fence object.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT specifies a global share handle that has only limited valid usage outside of Vulkan and other compatible APIs. It is not compatible with any native APIs. It does not own a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive represented by its Vulkan fence object, and will therefore become invalid when all Vulkan fence objects associated with it are destroyed.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT specifies a POSIX file descriptor handle to a Linux Sync File or Android Fence. It can be used with any native API accepting a valid sync file or fence as input. It owns a reference to the underlying synchronization primitive associated with the file descriptor. Implementations which support importing this handle type must accept any type of sync or fence FD supported by the native system they are running on.

Some external fence handle types can only be shared within the same underlying physical device and/or the same driver version, as defined in the following table:

Table 3. External Fence Handle Types Compatibility

Handle type

VkPhysicalDeviceIDProperties::driverUUID

VkPhysicalDeviceIDProperties::deviceUUID

VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_FD_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_OPAQUE_WIN32_KMT_BIT

Must match

Must match

VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT

No restriction

No restriction

 
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef VkFlags VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlags;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
typedef VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlags VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagsKHR;

VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits.

The VkExternalFenceProperties structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef struct VkExternalFenceProperties {
    VkStructureType                   sType;
    void*                             pNext;
    VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlags    exportFromImportedHandleTypes;
    VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlags    compatibleHandleTypes;
    VkExternalFenceFeatureFlags       externalFenceFeatures;
} VkExternalFenceProperties;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
typedef VkExternalFenceProperties VkExternalFencePropertiesKHR;

If handleType is not supported by the implementation, then VkExternalFenceProperties::externalFenceFeatures will be zero.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkExternalFenceProperties-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_FENCE_PROPERTIES

  • VUID-VkExternalFenceProperties-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

Bits which may be set in VkExternalFenceProperties::externalFenceFeatures, indicating features of a fence external handle type, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef enum VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagBits {
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT = 0x00000002,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
    VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT_KHR = VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT,
} VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagBits;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
typedef VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagBits VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagBitsKHR;

  • VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_EXPORTABLE_BIT specifies handles of this type can be exported from Vulkan fence objects.

  • VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_FEATURE_IMPORTABLE_BIT specifies handles of this type can be imported to Vulkan fence objects.

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
typedef VkFlags VkExternalFenceFeatureFlags;

or the equivalent

// Provided by VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities
typedef VkExternalFenceFeatureFlags VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagsKHR;

VkExternalFenceFeatureFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagBits.

Timestamp Calibration Capabilities

To query the set of time domains for which a physical device supports timestamp calibration, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_calibrated_timestamps
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceCalibrateableTimeDomainsKHR(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    uint32_t*                                   pTimeDomainCount,
    VkTimeDomainKHR*                            pTimeDomains);

or the equivalent command

// Provided by VK_EXT_calibrated_timestamps
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceCalibrateableTimeDomainsEXT(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    uint32_t*                                   pTimeDomainCount,
    VkTimeDomainKHR*                            pTimeDomains);

  • physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the set of calibrateable time domains.

  • pTimeDomainCount is a pointer to an integer related to the number of calibrateable time domains available or queried, as described below.

  • pTimeDomains is either NULL or a pointer to an array of VkTimeDomainKHR values, indicating the supported calibrateable time domains.

If pTimeDomains is NULL, then the number of calibrateable time domains supported for the given physicalDevice is returned in pTimeDomainCount. Otherwise, pTimeDomainCount must point to a variable set by the application to the number of elements in the pTimeDomains array, and on return the variable is overwritten with the number of values actually written to pTimeDomains. If the value of pTimeDomainCount is less than the number of calibrateable time domains supported, at most pTimeDomainCount values will be written to pTimeDomains, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all the available time domains were returned.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceCalibrateableTimeDomainsKHR-physicalDevice-parameter
    physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceCalibrateableTimeDomainsKHR-pTimeDomainCount-parameter
    pTimeDomainCount must be a valid pointer to a uint32_t value

  • VUID-vkGetPhysicalDeviceCalibrateableTimeDomainsKHR-pTimeDomains-parameter
    If the value referenced by pTimeDomainCount is not 0, and pTimeDomains is not NULL, pTimeDomains must be a valid pointer to an array of pTimeDomainCount VkTimeDomainKHR values

Return Codes
Success

  • VK_SUCCESS

  • VK_INCOMPLETE

Failure

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY