Redundancy method and apparatus for shader column repair
Methods, systems and non-transitory computer readable media are described. A system includes a shader pipe array, a redundant shader pipe array, a sequencer and a redundant shader switch. The shader pipe array includes multiple shader pipes, each of which perform rendering calculations on data provided thereto. The redundant shader pipe array also performs rendering calculations on data provided thereto. The sequencer identifies at least one defective shader pipe in the shader pipe array, and, in response, generates a signal. The redundant shader switch receives the generated signal, and, in response, transfers the data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective independently to the redundant shader pipe array.
1. A system comprising:
a redundant shader pipe array configured to perform rendering calculations on data provided thereto;
a shader pipe array comprising:
a plurality of shader pipes, each of the plurality of shader pipes being configured to perform rendering calculations on data provided thereto, and
a plurality of horizontal paths that communicatively couple each of the plurality of shader pipes in the shader pipe array to the redundant shader pipe array;
a sequencer configured to identify at least one defective shader pipe of the plurality of shader pipes in the shader pipe array, and, in response to identifying the at least one defective shader pipe, generate a signal; and
a redundant shader switch configured to:
receive the generated signal, and
in response to receiving the generated signal, transfer the data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective independently to the redundant shader pipe array via at least one of the plurality of horizontal paths.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the redundant shader switch is further configured to transfer the data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective without transferring the data destined to all other shader pipes in the shader pipe array that were not identified as being defective.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the redundant shader switch is further configured to directly switch the data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective via at least one horizontal path to the redundant shader pipe array.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the shader pipe array further comprises a plurality of vertical shader pipe columns, each of the plurality of vertical shader pipe columns comprising at least one of the plurality of shader pipes, and
the redundant shader switch further comprises a plurality of delay buffers and a plurality of output buffers, each of the plurality of output buffers being coupled to a respective one of the plurality of delay buffers and aligned with a respective vertical shader pipe column.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein:
the plurality of delay buffers are configured to contain data output of the corresponding vertical shader pipe columns for a sufficient period of time to allow a result for the redundant shader pipe array to be re-aligned, and
an output buffer of the plurality of output buffers coupled to the at least one defective shader pipe is configured to receive the result from the redundant shader pipe array.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the redundant shader pipe array is configured to receive data to be processed from sources other than via transfer from the redundant shader switch on a condition that at least one of the sequencer does not identify any shader pipes in the shader pipe array as being defective or the sequencer identifies the at least one of the shader pipes in the shader pipe array as being intermittently defective.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the shader pipe array comprises a plurality of rows and columns of shader pipes, and the plurality of horizontal paths comprises one horizontal path per row of shader pipes each communicatively coupled between all of the shader pipes in a respective row and the redundant shader pipe array.
8. The system of claim 4 , wherein the redundant shader switch further comprises a plurality of return paths communicatively coupling each of the plurality of output buffers to the redundant shader pipe array.
9. A method comprising:
identifying at least one defective shader pipe of a plurality of shader pipes in a shader pipe array; and
generating a signal directing a redundant shader switch to transfer data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective independently to a redundant shader pipe array via one of a plurality of horizontal paths in the shader pipe array that electrically couple each of the plurality of shader pipes in the shader pipe array to the redundant shader pipe array.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the generating further comprises generating the signal directing the redundant shader switch to transfer the data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective without transferring the data destined to all other shader pipes in the shader pipe array that were not identified as being defective.
11. A non-transitory computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:
identifying at least one defective shader pipe of a plurality of shader pipes in a shader pipe array; and
generating a signal directing a redundant shader switch to transfer data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective independently to a redundant shader pipe array via one of a plurality of horizontal paths in the shader pipe array that electrically couple each of the plurality of shader pipes in the shader pipe array to the redundant shader pipe array.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the one or more instructions for generating the signal further comprise one or more instructions to generate the signal directing the redundant shader switch to transfer the data destined for each shader pipe identified as being defective without transferring the data destined to all other shader pipes in the shader pipe array that were not identified as being defective.