Patent · US Expired

Efficient graphics state management for zone rendering

US6738069B2 · kind B2 · utility

5Cited by
5References
38Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateDec 31, 2001
Grant dateMay 18, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 16, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T15/005
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention provides a mechanism to track and manage graphics state with hardware state-binning logic for use with the tile-based zone rendering method of generating graphical images. Only the current values of the dynamic state variables are maintained in hardware. Dynamic includes, but is not limited to, state variables that are considered likely to change between primitives. The set of dynamic state variables is subdivided into subgroups. Each state group is associated with a per-bin array of tracking bits. Whenever a state change is encountered, the tracking bit corresponding to the associated state group is set for all bins. Prior to placing a primitive in a bin, the tracking bits associated with that bin are examined, and the current state corresponding to set tracking bits is inserted in the bin before the primitive. Then the tracking bits for that bin are cleared.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.