Efficient Implementation of Raster Operations Flow

• US 20060285145A1
• Filed: 08/28/2006
• Published: 12/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Santhosh Trichur Natarajan Kumar
• Original Assignee: Santhosh Trichur Natarajan Kumar
• Inventors: Kumar, Santhosh Trichur Natarajan
• Application Number:
  US11/467,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20060285145A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.130
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/00 Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data , e.g. computer output printersprinting or plotting combined with another operation, e.g. with conveying, G06K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1806 Receiving job control commands
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1822 Analysing the received data before processing

Abstract

According to one aspect, a printer supports transparency operations by generating mask data at interpretation stage which indicates whether each bit of a page content would be determined by the result of a raster operation or a prior destination value. The mask data can be used to complete quickly rendering of a page image once the rendering starts. Another aspect enables color fills of objects to be performed efficiently. A raster operations engine may determine whether all the points (pixels) of the object would have the same value if the raster operation is performed. If all pixels would have the same value, the value for only one pixel is computed and used for multiple pixels of the object. According to another aspect, when a pattern is to be tiled on an entire image portion, the pattern data is stored in a memory and provided as an input to rendering operation multiple times.

Claims

1-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A method of tiling patterns on a page to be printed in a printer, said method comprising:

receiving a plurality of commands specifying a pattern to be tiled on an entire image portion, said pattern being defined by a pattern data;

storing said pattern data in a memory; and

providing said pattern data stored in said memory a plurality of times as an input to raster operations to cause said pattern to be tiled multiple times on said entire image portion.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said providing provides said pattern data all the times when tiling on said entire image portion.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said data stored in said memory is viewed as a circular buffer.

15-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A printer tiling patterns on a page to be printed, said printer comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of commands specifying a pattern to be tiled on an entire image portion, said pattern being defined by a pattern data;

means for storing said pattern data in a memory; and

means for providing said pattern data stored in said memory a pattern to be tiled multiple times on said entire image portion.

27. The printer of claim 26, wherein said means for providing provides said pattern data all the times when tiling on said entire image portion.

28. The printer of claim 27, wherein said data stored in said memory is viewed as a circular buffer.

29-39. -39. (canceled)

40. A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a printer to tile patterns on a page, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said printer causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:

receiving a plurality of commands specifying a pattern to be tiled on an entire image portion, said pattern being defined by a pattern data;

storing said pattern data in a memory; and

providing said pattern data stored in said memory a plurality of times as an input to raster operations to cause said pattern to be tiled multiple times on said entire image portion.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said providing provides said pattern data all the times when tiling on said entire image portion.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein said data stored in said memory is viewed as a circular buffer.