Mid-primitive graphics execution preemption
US9710874B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 27, 2012 |
| Grant date | Jul 18, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 19, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T1/20
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for mid-primitive execution preemption. When preemption is initiated no new instructions are issued, in-flight instructions progress to an execution unit boundary, and the execution state is unloaded from the processing pipeline. The execution units within the processing pipeline, including the coarse rasterization unit complete execution of in-flight instructions and become idle. However, rasterization of a triangle may be preempted at a coarse raster region boundary. The amount of context state to be stored is reduced because the execution units are idle. Preempting at the mid-primitive level during rasterization reduces the time from when preemption is initiated to when another process can execute because the entire triangle is not rasterized.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.