Method of and apparatus for processing graphics

• US 20070146378A1
• Filed: 12/05/2006
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Arm Norway As (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Arm Norway As (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sorgard, Edvard, Nystad, Jorn, Blazevic, Mario, Ljosland, Borgar, Langtind, Frank
• Application Number:
  US11/633,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20070146378A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/581
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/60 Memory management
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/20 Drawing from basic elements, e.g. lines or circles
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/40 Filling a planar surface by adding surface attributes, e.g. colour or texture
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/00 3D [Three Dimensional] image rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/10 Constructive solid geometry [CSG] using solid primitives, e.g. cylinders, cubes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/04 involving 3D image data
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80

Abstract

A scene 50 to be rendered is divided into plural individual sub-regions or tiles 51.

The individual sub-regions 51 are also grouped into differing groups of sets of plural sub-regions.

There is a top level layer comprising a set 54 of 8×8 sub-regions which encompasses the entire scene area 50. There is then a group of four 4×4 sets of sub-regions 53, then a group of sixteen 2×2 sets of sub-regions 52, and finally a layer comprising the 64 single sub-regions 51.

A primitive list building unit takes each primitive 80 in turn, determines a location for that primitive, compares the primitive'"'"'s location with the locations of the sub-regions 51 and the locations of the sets of sub-regions 52, 53 and 54, and allocates the primitive to respective primitive lists for the sub-regions and sets of sub-regions accordingly.

Claims

1. An apparatus for sorting graphics primitives for rendering in a graphics processing system in which a scene to be rendered is divided into a plurality of sub-regions for rendering, the apparatus comprising:

a processor for preparing, for a single sub-region of the scene, a list of primitives for rendering; and

a processor for preparing, for a set of sub-regions comprising more than one sub-region of the scene, a list of primitives for rendering.

2. An apparatus of claim 1, comprising:

a processor for including a primitive to be rendered in one or more lists of primitives to be rendered;

wherein;

the lists of primitives to be rendered include one or more lists of primitives to be rendered that are to be used exclusively for single sub-regions of the scene, and include one or more different lists of primitives to be rendered that are each to be used for more than one sub-region of the scene.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein primitive lists can be prepared for sets of plural sub-regions that contain different numbers of sub-regions.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sets of plural sub-regions for which primitive lists can be prepared are arranged such that the scene is effectively overlaid by plural layers of sets of sub-regions arranged in a hierarchical fashion.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a separate primitive list is prepared for each separate sub-region that the scene is divided into, and a separate primitive list is prepared for each different set of more than one sub-region that a primitive list can be prepared for.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a given primitive is only included in the primitive lists of a selected number of the sub-regions and sets of plural sub-regions that it is determined the primitive could or should be rendered for.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when a primitive is included in a primitive list for a set of plural sub-regions, the primitive is not also included in the individual primitive lists for any of the sub-regions that are in the set of plural sub-regions.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein there are sets of plural sub-regions arranged such that the scene is effectively overlaid by plural layers of different size scene areas, and the apparatus further comprises:

a processor for determining how many different primitive lists a primitive would need to be included in at given layer in the sets of sub-regions hierarchy.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each sub-region has associated with it a set of primitive lists to be used for the sub-region.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising means for allocating an index to a primitive.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising means for storing other forms of graphics data and/or commands in the primitive lists for the sub-regions and sets of sub-regions.

11. A graphics processing system, comprising:

means for listing graphic primitives for rendering;

means for associating with each listed graphics primitive an index for the primitive; and

means for using the indices associated with the graphics primitives to sort the primitives.

13. A method of sorting graphics primitives for rendering in a graphics processing system in which a scene to be rendered is divided into a plurality of sub-regions for rendering, the method comprising

preparing a list of primitives for rendering for a single sub-region of the scene;

and

preparing a list of primitives for rendering for a set of sub-regions comprising more than one sub-region of the scene.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising:

including a primitive to be rendered in one or more lists of primitives to be rendered;

wherein;

the lists of primitives to be rendered include one or more lists of primitives to be rendered that are to be used exclusively for single sub-regions of the scene, and include one or more different lists of primitives to be rendered that are each to be used for more than one sub-region of the scene.

15. The method of claim 13, comprising preparing primitive lists for sets of plural sub-regions that contain different numbers of sub-regions.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the sets of plural sub-regions for which primitive lists can be prepared are arranged such that the scene is effectively overlaid by plural layers of sets of sub-regions arranged in a hierarchical fashion.

17. The method of claim 13, comprising preparing a separate primitive list for each separate sub-region that the scene is divided into, and preparing a separate primitive list for each different set of more than one sub-region that a primitive list can be prepared for.

18. The method of claim 13, comprising only including a primitive in the primitive lists of a selected number of the sub-regions and sets of plural sub-regions that it is determined the primitive could or should be rendered for.

19. The method of claim 13, comprising when a primitive is included in a primitive list for a set of plural sub-regions, not including the primitive in the individual primitive lists for any of the sub-regions that are in the set of plural sub-regions.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein there are sets of plural sub-regions arranged such that the scene is effectively overlaid by plural layers of different size scene areas, and the method further comprises:

determining how many different primitive lists a primitive would need to be included in a given layer in the sets of sub-regions hierarchy.

21. The method of claim 13, comprising associating with each sub-region a set of primitive lists to be used for the sub-region.

22. The method of claim 13, comprising allocating an index to a primitive.

25. The method of claim 13, comprising storing other forms of graphics data and/or commands in the primitive lists for the sub-regions and sets of sub-regions.

23. A method of operating a graphics processing system, comprising:

listing graphic primitives for rendering;

associating with each listed graphics primitive an index for the primitive; and

using the indices associated with the graphics primitives to sort the primitives.

24. A method of processing a group of graphics primitives for display, comprising:

allocating an index to primitives in the group of primitives;

distributing primitives from the group of primitives across multiple processing units;

rendering primitives from the group of primitives; and

using the indices allocated to the primitives to control the order in which the primitives are rendered.

26. A 3D graphics processing platform for a graphics processing system in which a scene to be rendered is divided into a plurality of sub-regions for rendering, the platform comprising:

a processor for preparing, for a single sub-region of the scene, a list of primitives for rendering; and

a processor for preparing, for a set of sub-regions comprising more than one sub-region of the scene, a list of primitives for rendering.

27. A computer program element comprising computer software code portions for performing a method of sorting graphics primitives for rendering in a graphics processing system in which a scene to be rendered is divided into a plurality of sub-regions for rendering, the method comprising

preparing a list of primitives for rendering for a single sub-region of the scene;

and

preparing a list of primitives for rendering for a set of sub-regions comprising more than one sub-region of the scene.