Apparatus and method for computing graphics attributes in a graphics display system
US6466222B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 8, 1999 |
| Grant date | Oct 15, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 8, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T1/20
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A three-dimensional graphics display system has a computational unit for computing the attribute values of several successive pixels at the same time for a specific graphics attribute. By time-sharing the computational unit, multiple graphics attributes can be computed using only one computational unit. The attribute values for each graphics attribute of the successive pixels are buffered in a special merge FIFO which may have a group of output data paths for sending out the attribute values of a group of pixels each computation cycle. There are multiple merge FIFOs for buffering the attribute values of the multiple graphics attributes. After the attribute values for all the desired graphics attributes for a group of pixels are available, the buffered attribute values for the group of pixels are sent out through their respective data paths. By using a pipeline architecture in the design, a high performance and low cost computation engine is provided for the three-dimensional graphics display system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.