New Vulkan 1.2.182.0 SDKs include new extensions and devsim updates

Today LunarG released new Windows, Linux, and macOS SDKs for Vulkan header 1.2.182. These SDKs include support for many new extensions, devsim enhancements, and macOS updates. The prior SDK supported Vulkan API revision 1.2.176.  Read on for information about the new extensions.

Overview of new extensions in Vulkan SDK 1.2.182.0

The Vulkan headers now include the following new extensions. Note that extensions are optional and may not be implemented by the underlying driver/ICD. Applications can now query for the presence of these new features:

  • VK_EXT_acquire_drm_display
  • VK_EXT_multi_draw
  • VK_EXT_physical_device_drm
  • VK_HUAWEI_subpass_shading (broken, disabled from the Loader and Validation Layers)
  • VK_NV_ray_tracing_motion_blur (The SPIR-V capability RayTracingMotionBlurNV has been disabled from the validation layers until this capability is defined in SPIR-V)
  • VK_KHR_shader_subgroup_uniform_control_flow
  • VK_EXT_global_priority_query
  • VK_NVX_binary_import
  • VK_EXT_provoking_vertex

Additional Enhancements

Here are some additional enhancements included in the new Windows, Linux, and macOS SDKs:

  • Shader validation results are now cached from run to run, instead of re-validating shaders on every CreateShaderModule. This feature is controlled by the VK_EXT_Validation_features extension.
  • This SDK also releases multiple devsim enhancements. Refer to the devsim documentation in the SDK for more information.
    • Added format properties combination modes that allow users to select how Devsim populates the list of format properties
    • Added ability to modify Surface queries for Surface capabilities, Surface formats, and Surface present modes
    • Added support for the modification on 1.1 and 1.2 Vulkan queries
    • Added minimum device configuration files for: 1) Specification minimum: Minimum properties, limits, and features based on the Vulkan 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 specifications, 2) Portability minimum: Minimum properties, limits, and features for portability subset devices based on the Vulkan 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 specifications, and 3) Desktop portability: Minimum properties, limits, and features based on what is effectively found in actual hardware for Vulkan 1.0 and 1.2
  • In addition, the Vulkan Configurator (vkconfig) has been updated to improve quality and stability. See the Vulkan Configurator documentation for more information.

Download the Vulkan SDK at the Vulkan SDK Download Site.

macOS Updates

In addition to the updates listed above, the macOS SDK now supports MoltenVK version 1.1.4 with the following highlights:

  • Expose vkGetIOSurfaceMVK() and vkUseIOSurfaceMVK() without requiring Objective-C
  • Advertise Vulkan extension functions only from enabled extensions
  • Add support for extension: VK_KHR_imageless_framebuffer
  • Default MoltenVK build using C++17 and compiler optimization setting -O2
  • Support Xcode 12.5 build settings, build warnings, and SDK change to the availability of ‘[MTLDevice supportsBCTextureCompression]’ on Mac Catalyst
  • Support Xcode 13 SDK APIs and build settings
  • Add support for new AMD devices supporting 32 lanes
  • Improve handling of sampler border color and mirror edge clamp.
  • Rename kMVKShaderStageMax to kMVKShaderStageCount
  • Update to latest SPIRV-Cross version
  • Important bug and crash fixes

For additional detail, please read the Release Notes for LinuxRelease Notes for Windows, or Release Notes for macOS.

For More Information

LunarG software engineering experts create innovative products and services for open source and commercial customers using leading-edge 3D graphics and compute technologies, including Vulkan, SPIR-V, OpenXR, and OpenGL. We have strengths in performance analysis and tuning, runtime and tools development, shader optimizations, driver development, and porting engines and applications to Vulkan.

For more information about LunarG, please check out our LunarG.com website.

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