System and method for implementing accumulation buffer operations in texture mapping hardware
US6396502B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 15, 1999 |
| Grant date | May 28, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 15, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/50
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is generally directed to a system and method for performing accumulation buffer operations using texture mapping hardware. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method is provided that operates by allocating a texture map of equal size as a display screen and copying contents of a frame buffer to the allocated texture map. The method then identifies an accumulation buffer operation and performs the accumulation buffer operation in a fragment unit. Preferably, the fragment unit includes an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) to perform high-speed mathematical operations. Finally, the method directs results of the accumulation buffer operation to the frame buffer, and copies contents of the frame buffer to the allocated texture map.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.