Patent · US Active

Multi-GPU graphics processing subsystem for installation in a PC-based computing system having a central processing unit (CPU) and a PC bus

US7796129B2 · kind B2 · utility

6Cited by
152References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 23, 2007
Grant dateSep 14, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 22, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2200/28
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A multi-GPU graphics processing subsystem for installation in a PC-based computing system having a CPU and a CPU interface module including a PC bus. The graphics processing subsystem interfaced with the CPU interface module by way of the PC bus, and a display surface for displaying said images by graphically displaying frames of pixel data produced by the graphics processing subsystem. The graphics processing subsystem includes a plurality of GPUs arranged in a parallel architecture and operating according to a parallelization mode of operation so that each GPU supports a graphics pipeline and is allowed to process data in a parallel manner. A hardware hub, interfaces with the CPU interface module and the GPUs, by way of the PC bus, and has a hub router for (i) distributing the stream of geometrical data and graphic commands among the GPUs, and (ii) transferring pixel data output from one or more of GPUs during the composition of frames of pixel data corresponding to final images for display on the display surface. The CPU interface module provides an interface between one or more software hub drivers and the hardware hub.

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