Apparatus and method to improve memory access performance between shared local memory and system global memory

摘要

An apparatus, method and machine-readable storage medium to improve memory access performance between shared local memory and system global memory are described. The method comprises grouping two or more work groups to form a super workgroup, and positioning a portion of a memory space into one or more super shared local memories (Super SLMs), wherein the memory space which is shared within the super workgroup forms at least one Super SLM of the one or more Super SLMs. The apparatus comprises: a plurality of execution units; a cache memory having a portion which operates as a shared local memory (SLM), which is shared with the plurality of execution units, at least one of which operates on a work group of a sub-slice, wherein the SLM is shared within the work group; and at least one Super-SLM for providing shared memory accessible by different work groups in the sub-slice, wherein the at least one of the execution units operates on the different work groups. A last work group may write data back to a system global memory (SGM) from a Super-SLM.