Vulkan 1.1.129 Brings VK_KHR_buffer_device_address To Query Buffer Addresses

Vulkan 1.1.129 is out this morning as another weekly update to this graphics API specification and in tow comes one new extension.

Vulkan 1.1.129 includes the usual work on resolving issues around documentation clarifications and other minor items while the only noteworthy item is the introduction of VK_KHR_buffer_device_address.

This extension worked on by NVIDIA, AMD, Arm, Intel, and Valve allows for querying a device address for a buffer. That address can then be used for accessing the buffer memory via GLSL's EXT_buffer_reference or SPIR-V's SPV_KHR_physical_storage_buffer extensions.

The intended use-case for this opaque buffer address querying functionality is for the likes of debugging tools. With this extension, the tools can then ensure the capture/replay opaque memory addresses are the same.

More details on this new Vulkan buffer device address extension and other changes via Vulkan-Docs.