Graphics processor emulation system and method with adaptive frame skipping to maintain synchronization between emulation time and real time
US6115054A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Sep 5, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG09G2360/121
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An emulation system emulates operation of a graphics processor in a target computer system that is executing a computer program. The graphics processor in the target computer system executes graphics commands generated by the program being executed to as to generate a sequence of frames that are to be displayed. The emulation method is performed by an emulation module that is executed by a general purpose computer. The emulation module receives a sequence of graphics commands and stores the graphics commands in a command cache. Upon detecting a frame end, the emulation module executes at least some of the commands in the command cache so as to at least partially render a frame represented by the commands in the command cache and thereby store image data in a video memory (VRAM). At each frame end the emulation module evaluates the ability of the general purpose computer to generate video frames fully synchronized with the target computer system. When the evaluation is positive, the emulation module fully executes all the commands in the command cache so as to fully render the frame; when the evaluation is negative, the emulation module executes a first subset of the commands in the…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.