Texture compositing apparatus and method
US5740343A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 3, 1995 |
| Grant date | Apr 14, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 3, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/04
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A texture compositing apparatus and method for combining multiple independent texture colors in a variety of ways in a single execution pass using a single texture compositing unit (TCU) per texture. The TCU receives a control signal, a blend factor, a local data signal(C.sub.local /A.sub.local), and an output data signal (C.sub.in /A.sub.in) generated by another TCU, the local data signal and the output data signal represent a texture color in a RGBA format. Based upon the control signal, the TCU can generate an output signal based on a variety of functions. The outputs that can be generated include but are not limited to: (1) zero; (2) one; (3) C.sub.in ; (4) C.sub.local ; (5) C.sub.in +C.sub.local ; (6) C.sub.in -C.sub.local ; (7) C.sub.in *C.sub.local ; (8) C.sub.in *C.sub.local +A.sub.local ; (9) C.sub.in *A.sub.local +C.sub.local ; (10) (C.sub.in -C.sub.local)*F.sub.blend +C.sub.local ; and (11) (C.sub.in -C.sub.local)*(1-F.sub.blend)+C.sub.local. Another feature of the invention is that multiple TCUs can be serially coupled to enable addition texture colors to be combined in a single execution path.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.