Apparatus and method for performing setup operations in a 3-D graphics pipeline using unified primitive descriptors
US6577305B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 20, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jun 10, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 20, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/87
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention provides post tile sorting setup in a tiled graphics pipeline architecture. In particular, the present invention determines a set of clipping points that identify intersections of a primitive with a tile. The mid-pipeline setup unit is adapted to compute a minimum depth value for that part of the primitive intersecting the tile. The mid-pipeline setup unit can be adapted to process primitives with x-coordinates that are screen based and y-coordinates that are tile based. Additionally, to the mid-pipeline setup unit is adapted to represent both line segments and triangles as quadrilaterals, wherein not all of a quadrilateral's vertices are required to describe a triangle.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.