Method of and apparatus for processing graphics

• US 20080150950A1
• Filed: 11/28/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• 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
• Granted Patent: US 9,965,886 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/522
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/40 Filling a planar surface by adding surface attributes, e.g. colour or texture
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/005 General purpose rendering architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/30 Control of display attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/36 characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/39 Control of the bit-mapped memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/393 Arrangements for updating the contents of the bit-mapped memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/397 Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of two or more bit-mapped memories to the screen simultaneously, e.g. for mixing or overlay G09G5/02 takes precedence

Abstract

A graphics processor 20 includes a graphics object list building unit 28 that determines the location of each draw call in a scene to be rendered and generates a list of draw calls for each sub-region (tile) that the scene to be rendered is divided into. The draw call lists are stored in a memory 23.

A graphics object selection unit 29 of a renderer 22 of the graphics processor 20 then determines which draw call is to be rendered next by considering the draw call list 26 stored in the memory 23 for the sub-region (tile) of the scene that is currently being rendered.

Claims

1. An apparatus for sorting graphics data for processing in a graphics processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor for sorting graphics descriptors that relate to or have associated with them a location or locations in a scene to be rendered into particular areas or sub-regions of the scene.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the areas or sub-regions of the scene comprise visible and non-visible areas of the scene.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the graphics descriptors comprise an indication of graphics processing to be performed in a particular scene location or area.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the graphics descriptors are selected from the group comprising:

higher order descriptions of objects to be rendered, higher level descriptions of objects to be rendered, pre-primitive descriptions of objects to be rendered, graphics descriptors that comprise groups of plural primitives, and graphics descriptors that can represent groups of plural primitives.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the graphics descriptors comprise draw calls.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a processor for using the sorted graphics descriptors to perform a culling operation before the scene is rendered.

25. A 3D graphics processor including the apparatus of claim 1.

2. An apparatus for processing graphics data for processing in a graphics processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor for preparing, for one or more areas or sub-regions of a scene to be rendered, a list of graphics descriptors, each graphics descriptor being something other than a single primitive of the scene to be rendered.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the areas or sub-regions of the scene comprise sub-regions that the scene is divided into for rendering purposes.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the graphics descriptors comprise an indication of graphics processing to be performed in a particular scene location or area.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the graphics descriptors are selected from the group comprising:

higher order descriptions of objects to be rendered, higher level descriptions of objects to be rendered, pre-primitive descriptions of objects to be rendered, graphics descriptors that comprise groups of plural primitives, and graphics descriptors that can represent groups of plural primitives.

10. The apparatus of claim 2, comprising a processor for using the graphics descriptor lists when rendering the scene for display.

12. An apparatus for processing graphics data for processing in a graphics processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor for comparing the positions or locations of graphics descriptors of a scene to be rendered with the position or location of a particular or selected area or areas or sub-region or sub-regions of the scene.

13. A method of sorting graphics data for processing in a graphics processing system, the method comprising:

sorting graphics descriptors that relate to or have associated with them a location or locations in a scene to be rendered into particular areas or sub-regions of the scene.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the areas or sub-regions of the scene comprise visible and non-visible areas of the scene.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the graphics descriptors comprise an indication of graphics processing to be performed in a particular scene location or area.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the graphics descriptors are selected from the group comprising:

higher order descriptions of objects to be rendered, higher level descriptions of objects to be rendered, pre-primitive descriptions of objects to be rendered, graphics descriptors that comprise groups of plural primitives, and graphics descriptors that can represent groups of plural primitives.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the graphics descriptors comprise draw calls.

23. The method of claim 13, comprising using the sorted graphics descriptors to perform a culling operation before the scene is rendered.

24. A computer program comprising computer software code portions for performing the method of claim 13 when the program is run on a data processor.

14. A method of processing graphics data for processing in a graphics processing system, the method comprising

preparing, for one or more areas or sub-regions of a scene to be rendered, a list of graphics descriptors, each graphics descriptor being something other than a single primitive of the scene to be rendered.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the areas or sub-regions of the scene comprise sub-regions that the scene is divided into for rendering purposes.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the graphics descriptors comprise an indication of graphics processing to be performed in a particular scene location or area.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the graphics descriptors are selected from the group comprising:

higher order descriptions of objects to be rendered, higher level descriptions of objects to be rendered, pre-primitive descriptions of objects to be rendered, graphics descriptors that comprise groups of plural primitives, and graphics descriptors that can represent groups of plural primitives.

22. The method of claim 14, comprising using the graphics descriptor lists when rendering the scene for display.