Description

max_total_num_items is needed to communicate an upper bound on the total number of items processed (e.g. the combined size of all segments in cub::DeviceBatchedTopK), which an algorithm can use to choose offset types (e.g., tile offset size) as well as sizing temporary storage buffers. Since this bound-information may not be attachable to a specific parameter (e.g., on a DeviceBatchedTopK and similarly for some other segmented algorithms that do not have a number of items parameter), we decided that for these cases it should go into the guarantees API.