Vulkan® 1.2.148 - A Specification (with all registered extensions)

41. Additional Capabilities

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

Additional Image Capabilities
Additional Buffer Capabilities
Optional Semaphore Capabilities
Optional Fence Capabilities
Timestamp Calibration Capabilities

41.1. 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);

physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the image capabilities.
format is a VkFormat value specifying the image format, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::format.
type is a VkImageType value specifying the image type, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::imageType.
tiling is a VkImageTiling value specifying the image tiling, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::tiling.
usage is a bitmask of VkImageUsageFlagBits specifying the intended usage of the image, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::usage.
flags is a bitmask of VkImageCreateFlagBits specifying additional parameters of the image, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::flags.
pImageFormatProperties is a pointer to a VkImageFormatProperties structure in which capabilities are returned.

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.

Valid Usage

tiling must not be VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT. (Use vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2 instead)

Valid Usage (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
format must be a valid VkFormat value
type must be a valid VkImageType value
tiling must be a valid VkImageTiling value
usage must be a valid combination of VkImageUsageFlagBits values
usage must not be 0
flags must be a valid combination of VkImageCreateFlagBits values
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:
- vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties::tiling was VK_IMAGE_TILING_LINEAR
- VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2::tiling was VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT
- the VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2::pNext chain included a VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo structure with a handle type included in the handleTypes member for which mipmap image support is not required
- image format is one of those listed in Formats requiring sampler Y′C_BC_R conversion for VK_IMAGE_ASPECT_COLOR_BIT image views
- flags contains VK_IMAGE_CREATE_SUBSAMPLED_BIT_EXT
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:
- tiling is VK_IMAGE_TILING_LINEAR
- tiling is VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL and type is VK_IMAGE_TYPE_3D
- format is one of those listed in Formats requiring sampler Y′C_BC_R conversion for VK_IMAGE_ASPECT_COLOR_BIT image views
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.

Note

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.

Note

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);

physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the image capabilities
format is the image format, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::format.
type is the image type, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::imageType.
tiling is the image tiling, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::tiling.
usage is the intended usage of the image, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::usage.
flags is a bitmask describing additional parameters of the image, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::flags.
externalHandleType is either one of the bits from VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBitsNV, or 0.
pExternalImageFormatProperties is a pointer to a VkExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV structure in which capabilities are returned.

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 (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
format must be a valid VkFormat value
type must be a valid VkImageType value
tiling must be a valid VkImageTiling value
usage must be a valid combination of VkImageUsageFlagBits values
usage must not be 0
flags must be a valid combination of VkImageCreateFlagBits values
externalHandleType must be a valid combination of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBitsNV values
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;

imageFormatProperties will be filled in as when calling vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties, but the values returned may vary depending on the external handle type requested.
externalMemoryFeatures is a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBitsNV, indicating properties of the external memory handle type (vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV::externalHandleType) being queried, or 0 if the external memory handle type is 0.
exportFromImportedHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBitsNV containing a bit set for every external handle type that may be used to create memory from which the handles of the type specified in vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV::externalHandleType can be exported, or 0 if the external memory handle type is 0.
compatibleHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBitsNV containing a bit set for every external handle type that may be specified simultaneously with the handle type specified by vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV::externalHandleType when calling vkAllocateMemory, or 0 if the external memory handle type is 0. compatibleHandleTypes will always contain vkGetPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatPropertiesNV::externalHandleType

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);

physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the image capabilities.
pImageFormatInfo is a pointer to a VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure describing the parameters that would be consumed by vkCreateImage.
pImageFormatProperties is a pointer to a VkImageFormatProperties2 structure in which capabilities are returned.

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

Valid Usage

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

Valid Usage (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
pImageFormatInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure
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

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;

sType is the type of this structure.
pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure. The pNext chain of VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 is used to provide additional image parameters to vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties2.
format is a VkFormat value indicating the image format, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::format.
type is a VkImageType value indicating the image type, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::imageType.
tiling is a VkImageTiling value indicating the image tiling, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::tiling.
usage is a bitmask of VkImageUsageFlagBits indicating the intended usage of the image, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::usage.
flags is a bitmask of VkImageCreateFlagBits indicating additional parameters of the image, corresponding to VkImageCreateInfo::flags.

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

Valid Usage

tiling must be VK_IMAGE_TILING_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_EXT if and only if the pNext chain includes VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT
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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_IMAGE_FORMAT_INFO_2
Each pNext member of any structure (including this one) in the pNext chain must be either NULL or a pointer to a valid instance of VkImageFormatListCreateInfo, VkImageStencilUsageCreateInfo, VkPhysicalDeviceExternalImageFormatInfo, VkPhysicalDeviceImageDrmFormatModifierInfoEXT, or VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT
The sType value of each struct in the pNext chain must be unique
format must be a valid VkFormat value
type must be a valid VkImageType value
tiling must be a valid VkImageTiling value
usage must be a valid combination of VkImageUsageFlagBits values
usage must not be 0
flags must be a valid combination of VkImageCreateFlagBits values

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 the type of 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.

Note

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 exeption only applies to imageFormatProperties, not sType, pNext, or any structures chained from pNext.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_PROPERTIES_2
Each pNext member of any structure (including this one) in the pNext chain must be either NULL or a pointer to a valid instance of VkAndroidHardwareBufferUsageANDROID, VkExternalImageFormatProperties, VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT, VkSamplerYcbcrConversionImageFormatProperties, or VkTextureLODGatherFormatPropertiesAMD
The sType value of each struct in the pNext chain must be unique

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 the type of this structure.
pNext is NULL.
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. User-specified value is ignored.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

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 the type of 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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_IMAGE_FORMAT_INFO
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_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 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.

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 73. 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

Note

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.

Note

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 the type of 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)

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;

externalMemoryFeatures is a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryFeatureFlagBits specifying the features of handleType.
exportFromImportedHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits specifying which types of imported handle handleType can be exported from.
compatibleHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits specifying handle types which can be specified at the same time as handleType when creating an image compatible with external memory.

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

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 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 the type of 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 list of queue families that will access the image (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

If sharingMode is VK_SHARING_MODE_CONCURRENT, then pQueueFamilyIndices must be a valid pointer to an array of queueFamilyIndexCount uint32_t values
If sharingMode is VK_SHARING_MODE_CONCURRENT, then queueFamilyIndexCount must be greater than 1
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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_IMAGE_DRM_FORMAT_MODIFIER_INFO_EXT
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 the type of 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)

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′C_BC_R 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.

Note

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.

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 the type of 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.

Note

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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_ANDROID_HARDWARE_BUFFER_USAGE_ANDROID

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 the type of 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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_IMAGE_VIEW_IMAGE_FORMAT_INFO_EXT
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 the type of 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. User-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. User-specified value is ignored.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_FILTER_CUBIC_IMAGE_VIEW_IMAGE_FORMAT_PROPERTIES_EXT

Valid Usage

If the pNext chain of the VkImageFormatProperties2 structure includes a VkFilterCubicImageViewImageFormatPropertiesEXT structure, the pNext chain of the VkPhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2 structure must include a VkPhysicalDeviceImageViewImageFormatInfoEXT structure with an imageViewType that is compatible with imageType

41.1.1. Supported Sample Counts

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

sampleCounts will be set to 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 those listed in Formats requiring sampler Y′C_BC_R conversion for VK_IMAGE_ASPECT_COLOR_BIT image views
usage contains VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SHADING_RATE_IMAGE_BIT_NV
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 aspect, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::framebufferDepthSampleCounts
If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_BIT, and format includes a stencil aspect, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::framebufferStencilSampleCounts
If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT, and format includes a color aspect, a superset of VkPhysicalDeviceLimits::sampledImageColorSampleCounts
If usage includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT, and format includes a depth aspect, 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.

41.1.2. 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.

Note

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:

maxExtent.width ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimension1D
maxExtent.height = 1
maxExtent.depth = 1

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_2D when flags does not contain VK_IMAGE_CREATE_CUBE_COMPATIBLE_BIT:

maxExtent.width ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimension2D
maxExtent.height ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimension2D
maxExtent.depth = 1

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_2D when flags contains VK_IMAGE_CREATE_CUBE_COMPATIBLE_BIT:

maxExtent.width ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimensionCube
maxExtent.height ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimensionCube
maxExtent.depth = 1

For VK_IMAGE_TYPE_3D:

maxExtent.width ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimension3D
maxExtent.height ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimension3D
maxExtent.depth ≥ VkPhysicalDeviceLimits.maxImageDimension3D

41.2. 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);

physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the buffer capabilities.
pExternalBufferInfo is a pointer to a VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo structure describing the parameters that would be consumed by vkCreateBuffer.
pExternalBufferProperties is a pointer to a VkExternalBufferProperties structure in which capabilities are returned.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
pExternalBufferInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceExternalBufferInfo structure
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;

sType is the type of this structure
pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.
flags is a bitmask of VkBufferCreateFlagBits describing additional parameters of the buffer, corresponding to VkBufferCreateInfo::flags.
usage is a bitmask of VkBufferUsageFlagBits describing the intended usage of the buffer, corresponding to VkBufferCreateInfo::usage.
handleType is a VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits value specifying the memory handle type that will be used with the memory associated with the buffer.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_BUFFER_INFO
pNext must be NULL
flags must be a valid combination of VkBufferCreateFlagBits values
usage must be a valid combination of VkBufferUsageFlagBits values
usage must not be 0
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 the type of 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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_BUFFER_PROPERTIES
pNext must be NULL

41.3. 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);

physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the semaphore capabilities.
pExternalSemaphoreInfo is a pointer to a VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo structure describing the parameters that would be consumed by vkCreateSemaphore.
pExternalSemaphoreProperties is a pointer to a VkExternalSemaphoreProperties structure in which capabilities are returned.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
pExternalSemaphoreInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceExternalSemaphoreInfo structure
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 the type of 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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_INFO
pNext must be NULL or a pointer to a valid instance of VkSemaphoreTypeCreateInfo
The sType value of each struct in the pNext chain must be unique
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,
    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 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 by 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.

Note

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 74. 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

// 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;

exportFromImportedHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits specifying which types of imported handle handleType can be exported from.
compatibleHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalSemaphoreHandleTypeFlagBits specifying handle types which can be specified at the same time as handleType when creating a semaphore.
externalSemaphoreFeatures is a bitmask of VkExternalSemaphoreFeatureFlagBits describing the features of handleType.

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

Valid Usage (Implicit)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_PROPERTIES
pNext must be NULL

Possible values of 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.

41.4. 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);

physicalDevice is the physical device from which to query the fence capabilities.
pExternalFenceInfo is a pointer to a VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo structure describing the parameters that would be consumed by vkCreateFence.
pExternalFenceProperties is a pointer to a VkExternalFenceProperties structure in which capabilities are returned.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
pExternalFenceInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo structure
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 the type of this structure
pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.
handleType is a VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits value indicating an external fence handle type for which capabilities will be returned.

Note

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)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_EXTERNAL_FENCE_INFO
pNext must be NULL
handleType must be a valid VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits value

Bits which may be set in VkPhysicalDeviceExternalFenceInfo::handleType, and in the exportFromImportedHandleTypes and compatibleHandleTypes members of VkExternalFenceProperties, to indicate external fence handle types, 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 75. 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;

exportFromImportedHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits indicating which types of imported handle handleType can be exported from.
compatibleHandleTypes is a bitmask of VkExternalFenceHandleTypeFlagBits specifying handle types which can be specified at the same time as handleType when creating a fence.
externalFenceFeatures is a bitmask of VkExternalFenceFeatureFlagBits indicating the features of handleType.

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

Valid Usage (Implicit)

sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_FENCE_PROPERTIES
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.

41.5. Timestamp Calibration Capabilities

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

// Provided by VK_EXT_calibrated_timestamps
VkResult vkGetPhysicalDeviceCalibrateableTimeDomainsEXT(
    VkPhysicalDevice                            physicalDevice,
    uint32_t*                                   pTimeDomainCount,
    VkTimeDomainEXT*                            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 VkTimeDomainEXT 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 user 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. If pTimeDomainCount is smaller than the number of calibrateable time domains supported for the given physicalDevice, VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS to indicate that not all the available values were returned.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

physicalDevice must be a valid VkPhysicalDevice handle
pTimeDomainCount must be a valid pointer to a uint32_t value
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 VkTimeDomainEXT values

Return Codes

Success

VK_SUCCESS
VK_INCOMPLETE

Failure

VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY
VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY