Patent · US Expired

Method of determining active priorities

US6891536B2 · kind B2 · utility

33Cited by
3References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateNov 29, 2002
Grant dateMay 10, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 26, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T11/60
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method (300) and apparatus (1000) for determining active objects contributing to a run of pixels corresponding to a scanline is disclosed. The method 300 utilizes two memory (1006) integer arrays (1101) and (1102) of size N, where N represents the number of objects in a job to be rendered. The first array (1101) is an active priority list and is preferably stored in memory (1006). The first array (1101) will be hereinafter referenced as the ‘active priority list (i.e. L[ ])’. The second array (1102) is an array of pointers (i.e. indexes) that indicate vacant memory 1006 locations in the active priority list (1101), when an object is deactivated. The second array (1102) will be hereinafter referred to as a ‘free list (F[ ])’ and is also preferably stored in memory (1006). The active priority list (1101) and free list (1102) can be stored at consecutive memory (1006) addresses (e.g. Memory address 0 to memory address 2N) or alternatively, the active priority list (1101) and free list (1102) can be stored in any suitable free memory (1006) locations.

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