Apparatus and method for integrating texture memory and interpolation logic in a computer system
US5548709A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 7, 1994 |
| Grant date | Aug 20, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 7, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/005
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a computer graphics system, a semiconductor chip used in performing texture mapping. Textures are input to the semiconductor chip. These textures are stored in a main memory. Cache memory is used to accelerate the reading and writing of texels. A memory controller controls the data transfers between the main memory and the cache memory. Also included within the same semiconductor chip is an interpolator. The interpolator produces an output texel by interpolating from textures stored in memory. The interpolated texel value is output by the semiconductor chip, thereby minimizing transmission bandwidth as well as redundant storage of texture maps in a multi-processor environment.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.