Name

    KHR_reusable_sync

Name Strings

    EGL_KHR_reusable_sync

Contributors

    Acorn Pooley
    Gary King
    Gregory Prisament
    Jon Leech
    Robert Palmer

Contacts

    Acorn Pooley, NVIDIA Corporation (apooley 'at' nvidia.com)
    Gary King, NVIDIA Corporation (gking 'at' nvidia.com)
    Gregory Prisament, NVIDIA Corporation (gprisament 'at' nvidia.com)
    Jon Leech (jon 'at' alumni.caltech.edu)
    Robert Palmer (robert.palmer 'at' nokia.com)

Notice

    Copyright (c) 2006-2013 The Khronos Group Inc. Copyright terms at
        http://www.khronos.org/registry/speccopyright.html

Status

    Complete.
    Approved by the Khronos Board of Promoters on August 28, 2009.

Version

    Version 22, January 31, 2014

Number

    EGL Extension #6

Dependencies

    Requires EGL 1.1

    This extension is written against the wording of the EGL 1.2
    Specification.

Overview

    This extension introduces the concept of "sync objects" into EGL.
    Sync objects are a synchronization primitive, representing events
    whose completion can be tested or waited upon. This extension
    borrows from the GL_ARB_sync extension but introduces a type of sync
    object known as "reusable sync object" comparable to an OS
    semaphore. The specification is designed to allow additional types of
    sync objects to be easily introduced in later extensions.

    Reusable sync objects may be used to synchronize activity between
    threads or between client APIs. Synchronization is accomplished by
    explicitly changing the status of a reusable object using EGL API
    commands.

New Types

    /*
     * EGLSyncKHR is an opaque handle to an EGL sync object
     */
    typedef void* EGLSyncKHR;

    /*
     * EGLTimeKHR is a 64-bit unsigned integer representing intervals
     * in nanoseconds.
     */
    #include <khrplatform.h>
    typedef khronos_utime_nanoseconds_t EGLTimeKHR;


New Procedures and Functions

    EGLSyncKHR eglCreateSyncKHR(
                        EGLDisplay dpy,
                        EGLenum type,
                        const EGLint *attrib_list);

    EGLBoolean eglDestroySyncKHR(
                        EGLDisplay dpy,
                        EGLSyncKHR sync);

    EGLint eglClientWaitSyncKHR(
                        EGLDisplay dpy,
                        EGLSyncKHR sync,
                        EGLint flags,
                        EGLTimeKHR timeout);

    EGLBoolean eglSignalSyncKHR(
                        EGLDisplay dpy,
                        EGLSyncKHR sync,
                        EGLenum mode);

    EGLBoolean eglGetSyncAttribKHR(
                        EGLDisplay dpy,
                        EGLSyncKHR sync,
                        EGLint attribute,
                        EGLint *value);


New Tokens

    Accepted by the <type> parameter of eglCreateSyncKHR, and returned
    in <value> when eglGetSyncAttribKHR is called with <attribute>
    EGL_SYNC_TYPE_KHR:

    EGL_SYNC_REUSABLE_KHR                   0x30FA

    Accepted by the <attribute> parameter of eglGetSyncAttribKHR:

    EGL_SYNC_TYPE_KHR                       0x30F7
    EGL_SYNC_STATUS_KHR                     0x30F1

    Accepted by the <mode> parameter of eglSignalSyncKHR and returned in
    <value> when eglGetSyncAttribKHR is called with <attribute>
    EGL_SYNC_STATUS_KHR:

    EGL_SIGNALED_KHR                        0x30F2
    EGL_UNSIGNALED_KHR                      0x30F3

    Accepted in the <flags> parameter of eglClientWaitSyncKHR:

    EGL_SYNC_FLUSH_COMMANDS_BIT_KHR         0x0001

    Accepted in the <timeout> parameter of eglClientWaitSyncKHR:

    EGL_FOREVER_KHR                         0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFull

    Returned by eglClientWaitSyncKHR:

    EGL_TIMEOUT_EXPIRED_KHR                 0x30F5
    EGL_CONDITION_SATISFIED_KHR             0x30F6

    Returned by eglCreateSyncKHR in the event of an error:

    EGL_NO_SYNC_KHR                         ((EGLSyncKHR)0)

Changes to Chapter 3 of the EGL 1.2 Specification (EGL Functions and Errors)

    Add a new subsection at the end of Section 3.8, page 43
    (Synchronization Primitives)

   "3.8.1  Sync Objects

    In addition to the aforementioned synchronization functions, which
    provide an efficient means of serializing client and native API
    operations within a thread, <sync objects> are provided to enable
    synchronization of client API operations between threads and/or
    between API contexts. Sync objects may be tested or waited upon by
    application threads.

    Sync objects have a status with two possible states: <signaled> and
    <unsignaled>. Initially, sync objects are unsignaled. EGL may be
    asked to wait for a sync object to become signaled, or a sync
    object's status may be queried.

    Depending on the type of a sync object, its status may be changed
    either by an external event, or by explicitly signaling and
    unsignaling the sync.

    Sync objects are associated with an EGLDisplay when they are
    created, and have <attributes> defining additional aspects of the
    sync object. All sync objects include attributes for their type and
    their status. Additional attributes are discussed below
    for different types of sync objects.

    <Reusable sync objects> are created in the unsignaled state, and may
    be signaled and/or unsignaled repeatedly. Every transition of a
    reusable sync object's status from unsignaled to signaled will
    release any threads waiting on that sync object.

    The command

        EGLSyncKHR eglCreateSyncKHR(
                            EGLDisplay dpy,
                            EGLenum type,
                            const EGLint *attrib_list);

    creates a sync object of the specified <type> associated with the
    specified display <dpy>, and returns a handle to the new object.
    <attrib_list> is an attribute-value list specifying other attributes
    of the sync object, terminated by an attribute entry EGL_NONE.
    Attributes not specified in the list will be assigned their default
    values.

    If <type> is EGL_SYNC_REUSABLE_KHR, a reusable sync object is
    created. In this case <attrib_list> must be NULL or empty
    (containing only EGL_NONE). Attributes of the reusable sync object
    are set as follows:

      Attribute Name         Initial Attribute Value(s)
      ---------------        --------------------------
      EGL_SYNC_TYPE_KHR      EGL_SYNC_REUSABLE_KHR
      EGL_SYNC_STATUS_KHR    EGL_UNSIGNALED_KHR

    Errors
    ------

      * If <dpy> is not the name of a valid, initialized EGLDisplay,
        EGL_NO_SYNC_KHR is returned and an EGL_BAD_DISPLAY error is
        generated.
      * If <attrib_list> is neither NULL nor empty (containing only
        EGL_NONE), EGL_NO_SYNC_KHR is returned and an EGL_BAD_ATTRIBUTE
        error is generated.
      * If <type> is not a supported type of sync object,
        EGL_NO_SYNC_KHR is returned and an EGL_BAD_ATTRIBUTE error is
        generated.

    The command

        EGLint eglClientWaitSyncKHR(
                            EGLDisplay dpy,
                            EGLSyncKHR sync,
                            EGLint flags,
                            EGLTimeKHR timeout);

    blocks the calling thread until the specified sync object <sync> is
    signaled, or until <timeout> nanoseconds have passed.

    More than one eglClientWaitSyncKHR may be outstanding on the same
    <sync> at any given time. When there are multiple threads blocked on
    the same <sync> and the sync object is signaled, all such threads
    are released, but the order in which they are released is not
    defined.

    If the value of <timeout> is zero, then eglClientWaitSyncKHR simply
    tests the current status of <sync>. If the value of <timeout> is the
    special value EGL_FOREVER_KHR, then eglClientWaitSyncKHR does not
    time out. For all other values, <timeout> is adjusted to the closest
    value allowed by the implementation-dependent timeout accuracy,
    which may be substantially longer than one nanosecond.

    eglClientWaitSyncKHR returns one of three status values describing
    the reason for returning. A return value of EGL_TIMEOUT_EXPIRED_KHR
    indicates that the specified timeout period expired before <sync>
    was signaled, or if <timeout> is zero, indicates that <sync> is
    not signaled. A return value of EGL_CONDITION_SATISFIED_KHR
    indicates that <sync> was signaled before the timeout expired, which
    includes the case when <sync> was already signaled when
    eglClientWaitSyncKHR was called. If an error occurs then an error is
    generated and EGL_FALSE is returned.

    If the EGL_SYNC_FLUSH_COMMANDS_BIT_KHR bit is set in
    <flags>, and <sync> is unsignaled when eglClientWaitSyncKHR is
    called, then the equivalent of Flush() will be performed for the
    current API context (i.e., the context returned by
    eglGetCurrentContext()) before blocking on <sync>. If no context is
    current for the bound API, the EGL_SYNC_FLUSH_COMMANDS_BIT_KHR bit
    is ignored.

    If a sync object is destroyed while an eglClientWaitSyncKHR is
    blocking on that object, eglClientWaitSyncKHR will unblock and
    return immediately, just as if the sync object had been signaled
    prior to being destroyed.

    Errors
    ------

      * If <sync> is not a valid sync object for <dpy>, EGL_FALSE is
        returned and an EGL_BAD_PARAMETER error is generated.
      * If <dpy> does not match the EGLDisplay passed to
        eglCreateSyncKHR when <sync> was created, the behaviour is
        undefined.


    The command

        EGLBoolean eglSignalSyncKHR(
                            EGLDisplay dpy,
                            EGLSyncKHR sync,
                            EGLenum mode);

    signals or unsignals the reusable sync object <sync> by changing its
    status to <mode>, which must be one of the values in table 3.bb. If
    as a result of calling eglSignalSyncKHR the status of <sync>
    transitions from unsignaled to signaled, any eglClientWaitSyncKHR
    commands blocking on <sync> will unblock.

    Assuming no errors are generated, EGL_TRUE is returned.

    Mode                   Effect
    ------------------     -------------
    EGL_SIGNALED_KHR       Set the status of <sync> to signaled
    EGL_UNSIGNALED_KHR     Set the status of <sync> to unsignaled

    Table 3.bb  Modes Accepted by eglSignalSyncKHR Command

    Errors
    ------

      * If <sync> is not a valid sync object for <dpy>, EGL_FALSE is
        returned and an EGL_BAD_PARAMETER error is generated.
      * If the type of <sync> is not EGL_SYNC_REUSABLE_KHR, EGL_FALSE is
        returned and an EGL_BAD_MATCH error is generated.
      * If <dpy> does not match the EGLDisplay passed to
        eglCreateSyncKHR when <sync> was created, the behaviour is
        undefined.


    The command

        EGLBoolean eglGetSyncAttribKHR(
                            EGLDisplay dpy,
                            EGLSyncKHR sync,
                            EGLint attribute,
                            EGLint *value);

    is used to query attributes of the sync object <sync>. Legal values
    for <attribute> depend on the type of sync object, as shown in table
    3.cc. Assuming no errors are generated, EGL_TRUE is returned and the
    value of the queried attribute is returned in <value>.

    Attribute              Description                Supported Sync Objects
    -----------------      -----------------------    ----------------------
    EGL_SYNC_TYPE_KHR      Type of the sync object    All
    EGL_SYNC_STATUS_KHR    Status of the sync object  All

    Table 3.cc  Attributes Accepted by eglGetSyncAttribKHR Command

    Errors
    ------

      * If <sync> is not a valid sync object for <dpy>, EGL_FALSE is
        returned and an EGL_BAD_PARAMETER error is generated.
      * If <dpy> does not match the display passed to eglCreateSyncKHR
        when <sync> was created, the behaviour is undefined.
      * If <attribute> is not one of the attributes in table 3.cc,
        EGL_FALSE is returned and an EGL_BAD_ATTRIBUTE error is
        generated.
      * If <attribute> is not supported for the type of sync object
        passed in <sync>, EGL_FALSE is returned and an EGL_BAD_MATCH
        error is generated.

    If any error occurs, <*value> is not modified.

    The command

        EGLBoolean eglDestroySyncKHR(
                            EGLDisplay dpy,
                            EGLSyncKHR sync);

    is used to destroy an existing sync object. If any
    eglClientWaitSyncKHR commands are blocking on <sync> when
    eglDestroySyncKHR is called, they will be woken up, as if <sync>
    were signaled.

    If no errors are generated, EGL_TRUE is returned, and <sync> will no
    longer be the handle of a valid sync object.

    Errors
    ------

      * If <sync> is not a valid sync object for <dpy>, EGL_FALSE is
        returned and an EGL_BAD_PARAMETER error is generated.
      * If <dpy> does not match the display passed to eglCreateSyncKHR
        when <sync> was created, the behaviour is undefined."

Issues

    Note about the Issues
    ---------------------
    The wording for this extension was originally written as a single
    extension defining two types of sync object; a "reusable sync
    object" and a "fence sync object". That extension was split to
    produce standalone extensions for each type of sync object, and
    references to the other type removed from the specification
    language. This issues list has been simplied to remove references to
    fence sync objects but is otherwise very similar to the
    EGL_KHR_fence_sync extension issues list.

    1. Explain the key choices made in this extension.

    RESPONSE: This extension has been written to enable adoption to be
    as wide as possible, and to behave as similarly as possible to
    synchronization primitives available in desktop OpenGL (e.g.,
    NV_fence, ARB_sync).

    In the interest of enabling widespread adoption, this extension
    (following the ARB_sync model) has foregone the inclusion of
    synchronization primitives and synchronization tests which may be
    performed entirely inside client API command streams, instead
    performing synchronization tests (eglClientWaitSyncKHR) inside the
    application & host CPU.

    In the interest of maintaining similarity with previous
    synchronization primitives, this extension attempts to copy the
    ARB_sync specification wherever possible (both functionally and
    stylistically), only making changes where needed to operate inside
    EGL (rather than a client API context) and match EGL naming
    conventions.

    2. Why place this behavior in EGL, rather than in the client APIs?

    RESPONSE: Ultimately, synchronization between multiple asynchronous
    client API contexts (potentially executing in different threads) is
    a problem which affects or will affect all EGL client APIs. Rather
    than creating separate synchronization primitives in each of the
    client APIs (and then wrapping them in an EGL container), in the
    interest of developer simplicity & consistency this behavior is
    being placed inside EGL.

    3. What does this extension provide that can not be accomplished
    with the existing, more efficient eglWaitClient and eglWaitNative
    API functions?

    RESPONSE: eglWaitClient and eglWaitNative may be implemented in
    extremely lightweight manners, in some cases not blocking the
    calling thread at all; however, they can not be used to synchronize
    between client API contexts and native APIs executing in separate
    threads (or simply between client API contexts executing in separate
    threads), such as between a thread with an active OpenGL context and
    a second thread performing video decode.

    4. [REMOVED - found in the fence_sync extension.]

    5. Should integration with native platform synchronization objects
    be included in this extension, or reserved for future
    (platform-specific) extensions?

    RESOLVED: Integration with native platform synchronization objects
    should not be part of this extension, but can be added as future
    layered extensions if needed. These layered extensions can be
    platform-specific, or perhaps OpenKODE based.

    Originally, this extension included the ability to create native
    platform synchronization objects from EGLSync objects. This feature
    was removed for a few reasons:

    i) The proposed mechanism suggested mapping EGLSync objects to
    pthread conditional variables on platforms with pthread support.
    However, pthread conditional variables require an associated
    mutex and there was no mechanism to relay this associated mutex
    to the application.

    ii) On certain platforms support for converting to native
    platform synchronization objects adds great complexity to the
    implementation.

    iii) Now that OpenKODE is more mature, it would be better to
    allow conversion from EGLSyncKHR objects to OpenKODE
    synchronization primitives rather than platform-specific ones.
    We suggest that this functionality, if needed, be added as a
    layered extension instead of being included here. This way,
    EGL_KHR_sync remains minimal and easy to implement on a variety
    of platforms.

    6. Please provide a more detailed description of how
    eglClientWaitSyncKHR behaves.

    RESOLVED: eglClientWaitSyncKHR blocks until the status of the sync
    object transitions to the signaled state. Sync object status is
    either signaled or unsignaled. More detailed rules describing
    signalling follow (these may need to be imbedded into the actual
    spec language):

      * A reusable sync object has two possible status values: signaled
        or unsignaled.
      * When created, the status of the sync object is unsignaled by
        default.
      * A reusable sync can be set to signaled or unsignaled
        status using eglSignalSyncKHR.
      * A wait function called on a sync object in the unsignaled state
        will block. It unblocks (note, not "returns to the application")
        when the sync object transitions to the signaled state.
      * A wait function called on a sync object in the signaled state
        will return immediately.

    7. Should the 'flags' argument to eglClientWaitSyncKHR be
    EGLint or EGLuint?

    RESOLVED: EGLint, setting a precedent for explicit bitmask types
    in EGL going forward. We don't have an EGLuint type and it is
    overkill for this purposes when other bitmasks (surface type
    and api type) are already using EGLint attribute fields.

    8. Can multiple WaitSyncs be placed on the same sync object?

    RESOLVED: Yes. This has been allowed all along but we now state it
    more clearly in the spec language. However, there is some concern
    that this is hard to implement and of limited use, and we might
    remove this capability before approving the extension.

    One way to do this while allowing multiple waiters at some future
    point is to expose it through the API to developers as either a sync
    attribute allowing multiple waits (default not allowing it), or a
    parameter to WaitSync, which initially must be something like
    EGL_SINGLE_WAIT_ONLY.

    9. Should eglDestroySyncKHR release all WaitSyncs placed on a
    reusable sync object?

    RESOLVED: Yes. It is safest to release all threads waiting on a
    reusable object when the sync object is deleted so that waiting
    threads do not wait forever.

Revision History

#22 (Jon Leech, January 31, 2014)
    - Clarify return value of ClientWaitSyncKHR when called with <timeout>
      of zero for an unsignaled <sync> (Bug 11576).
#21 (Jon Leech, April 23, 2013)
    - Simplify issues list to remove issues specific to fence sync
      objects.
#20 (Jon Leech, September 8, 2009)
    - Change status to complete and note approval by the Promoters.
      Minor formatting changes.
#19 (Robert Palmer, July 14, 2009)
    - Branch wording from draft KHR_sync specification. Remove ability
      to create "fence sync objects and all tokens/wording specific to
      them.
#18 (Robert Palmer, July 8, 2009)
    - Issues 8 and 9 declared resolved in EGL meeting 2009-07-08
#17 (Robert Palmer, July 8, 2009)
    - Update eglDestroySyncKHR to special-case deletion of fence sync
      objects.  This is explained in issue 9.
    - Corrected EGL_REUSABLE_SYNC_KHR -> EGL_SYNC_REUSABLE_KHR
    - Define value for EGL_SYNC_REUSABLE_KHR
    - Fix typo and whitespace
#16 (Jon Leech, July 7, 2009)
    - Update description of new tokens to match changes to the
      eglCreateSyncKHR entry point in revision 15.
#15 (Jon Leech, June 16, 2009)
    - Define separate one-time fence sync and reusable sync extensions
      and corresponding extension strings. Remove AUTO_RESET and
      eglFenceKHR. Rename eglCreateFenceSyncKHR to eglCreateSyncKHR and
      change initial status of reusable syncs to unsignaled. Clarify
      which functions apply to which types of sync objects. Update
      issues list.
#14 (Jon Leech, April 29, 2009)
    - Clarify that all waiters are woken up on signalling a sync.
      Remove tabs to cleanup some formatting issues.
#13 (Acorn Pooley, April 2, 2009)
    - Renamed
        GL_OES_egl_sync -> GL_OES_EGL_sync
        VG_KHR_egl_sync -> VG_KHR_EGL_sync
#12 (Jon Leech, April 1, 2009)
    - Changed sync flags type from EGLuint to EGLint and add issue 7.
#11 (Acorn Pooley, February 4, 2009)
    - add error case to eglGetSyncAttribKHR.
    - fix year on rev 8-10 (2008->2009)
#10 (Acorn Pooley, February 4, 2009)
    - clarify some error message descriptions
#9  (Greg Prisament, January 15, 2009)
    - Destroy now wakes up all waits (eglClientWaitSyncKHR)
    - Add EGLDisplay <dpy> as first parameter to all commands
    - Split into 3 extension strings, EGL_KHR_sync, GL_OES_egl_sync,
      VG_KHR_egl_sync, all described in this document.
    - Add attribute AUTO_RESET_KHR
    - Time type uses the type from khrplatform.h
    - Remove EGL_ALREADY_SIGNALLED
#8  (Jon Leech, November 11, 2009)
   - Assign enum values
#7   (Acorn Pooley, October 30, 2008)
   - Fix typos
   - remove obsolete wording about Native sync objects (see issue 5)
   - formatting: remove tabs, 80 columns
#6   (Acorn Pooley, October 27, 2008)
   - Corrected 'enum' to 'EGLenum' in prototypes.
#5   (Jon Leech, September 9, 2008)
   - Removed native sync support (eglCreateNativeSyncKHR and
     EGL_SYNC_NATIVE_SYNC_KHR), and re-flowed spec to fit in 80 columns.
#4   (Jon Leech, November 20, 2007)
   - Corrected 'enum' to 'EGLenum' in prototypes.
#3   (Jon Leech, April 5, 2007)
   - Added draft Status and TBD Number
#2   (November 27, 2006)
   - Changed OES token to KHR