Dynamic rendering of graphics

• US 10,002,443 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2015
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rightware Oy (Thunder Software Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Rightware Oy (Thunder Software Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ruotsalainen, Arto, Lehtinen, Jussi
• Primary Examiner(s): Thompson, James A
• Application Number:
  US14/877,947
• Publication Number:
  US 20160110887A1
• Time in Patent Office: 985 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/16 involving adaptation to the client's capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0435 Change or adaptation of the frame rate of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/08 Power processing, i.e. workload management for processors involved in display operations, such as CPUs or GPUs
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/10 Automotive applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/12 Avionics applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/001 Arbitration of resources in a display system, e.g. control of access to frame buffer by video controller and/or main processor
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers

Abstract

In accordance with an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processing core configured to render a dynamic graphical output, the graphical output comprising at least a first subsection and a second subsection, rank the first subsection relative to the second subsection based on at least one criterion, determine a scarcity of computational resources, and responsively, based on the ranking, reduce an update frequency of the second subsection, and a transmitter configured to provide information defining the graphical output toward a display.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processing core configured to;

render a dynamic graphical output, the graphical output comprising at least a first subsection and a second subsection;

rank the first subsection relative to the second subsection based on at least one criterion;

determine a scarcity of computational resources available for rendering, and responsively, based on the ranking, reduce an update frequency of the second subsection, wherein the at least one processing core is configured to determine the scarcity of computational resources based on at least one of a thermal limit, a determined lag and a quantity of interrupts, and

a transmitter configured to provide information defining the graphical output toward a display, wherein the graphical output comprises information concerning a current state of at least one of;

an automobile system, an aircraft system, an industrial machine and a power generation plant.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the criterion is relevance to safety.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the graphical output comprises information concerning at least one of:

a communication session, a media playback session, a broadcast session, a user session, map information, a battery level, a velocity indication, an altitude indication and an industrial process indication.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the criterion is at least one of a characteristic timescale and a priority.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first subsection has a shorter characteristic timescale than the second subsection.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first subsection comprises a digital instrument display and the second subsection indicates at least one of:

remaining fuel, remaining distance to maintenance and oil pressure.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the digital instrument display indicates at least one of:

velocity of a car, velocity of an aircraft and engine revolutions per time unit.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein causing the first subsection to be rendered at a higher update frequency than the second subsection comprises keeping an update frequency of the first subsection constant and lowering an update frequency of the second subsection.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to set an update frequency of the first subsection to a predefined minimum update frequency, and subsequently select the reduced update frequency for the second subsection based on computational resources then remaining.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processing core is further configured to adjust, in real time, the ranking of the first subsection relative to the second subsection based at least in part on an operating condition.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein responsive to the scarcity, the apparatus is configured to begin rendering at least one of the first subsections and the second subsection in at least one of a smaller size, a reduced detail level and a reduced quality level than before the scarcity.

12. A method comprising:

rendering a dynamic graphical output, the graphical output comprising at least a first subsection and a second subsection;

ranking the first subsection relative to the second subsection based on at least one criterion;

determining a scarcity of computational resources available for rendering, and responsively, based on the ranking, reducing an update frequency of the second subsection, wherein the scarcity of computational resources is determined based on at least one of a thermal limit, a determined lag and a quantity of interrupts, and

providing information defining the graphical output, wherein the graphical output comprises information concerning a current state of at least one of;

an automobile system, an aircraft system, an industrial machine and a power generation plant.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the criterion is relevance to safety.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the graphical output comprises information concerning at least one of:

a communication session, a media playback session, a broadcast session, a user session, map information, a battery level, a velocity indication, an altitude indication and an industrial process indication.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the criterion is at least one of characteristic timescale and a priority.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the first subsection has a shorter characteristic timescale than the second subsection.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first subsection comprises a digital instrument display and the second subsection indicates at least one of:

remaining fuel, remaining distance to maintenance and oil pressure.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the digital instrument display indicates at least one of:

velocity of a car, velocity of an aircraft and engine revolutions per time unit.

19. The method according to claim 12, further comprising adjusting, in real time, the ranking of the first subsection relative to the second subsection based at least in part on an operating condition.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least:

render a dynamic graphical output, the graphical output comprising at least a first subsection and a second subsection,

rank the first subsection relative to the second subsection based on at least one criterion,

determine a scarcity of computational resources available for rendering, and responsively, based on the ranking, reduce an update frequency of the second subsection, and provide information defining the graphical output, wherein the scarcity of computational resources is determined based on at least one of a thermal limit, a determined lag and a quantity of interrupts, and

provide information defining the graphical output, wherein the graphical output comprises information concerning a current state of at least one of;

an automobile system, an aircraft system, an industrial machine and a power generation plant.