Encoding Multi-media Signals

• US 20080291209A1
• Filed: 05/25/2007
• Published: 11/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Original Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Inventors: Bansal, Amit, Sureka, Akash Damodar
• Application Number:
  US11/753,588
• Publication Number:
  US 20080291209A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/531
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/02 Handling of images in compressed format, e.g. JPEG, MPEG
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2350/00 Solving problems of bandwidth in display systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/39 Control of the bit-mapped memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/42 characterised by implementation details or hardware specially adapted for video compression or decompression, e.g. dedicated software implementation H04N19/635 takes precedence

Abstract

An aspect of the present invention mitigates bottlenecks in components such as buses in the path of a system memory and a GPU memory. In an embodiment, a graphics processing unit (GPU) receives digital values representing a multi-media signal from an external source, encodes the digital values, and stores the encoded values in a RAM. The RAM may also store instructions which are executed by a CPU. As the digital values are received by the GPU without being stored in the RAM, bottlenecks may be mitigated.

Claims

1. A device processing a multi-media signal provided by an external source, said device comprising:

an interface connecting to said external source;

a random access memory (RAM) storing a plurality of instructions;

a central processing unit (CPU) executing said plurality of instructions; and

a graphics processing unit (GPU) receiving a plurality of digital values representing said multi-media signal from said external source, encoding said plurality of digital values to generate a plurality of encoded values and storing said plurality of encoded values in said RAM,

wherein said plurality of digital values are received by said GPU without being stored in said RAM.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a GPU memory, wherein said GPU stores said plurality of digital values in said GPU memory prior to performing said encoding.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of digital values comprise raw data received from said interface.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said GPU notifies said CPU upon completion of storing encoded data corresponding to each of a successive portions of said multi-media signal.

5. A method of encoding multi-media signals provided by an external source, said method comprising:

sending a command to a graphics processing unit (GPU) to encode said multi-media signals;

receiving in said GPU a plurality of digital values representing said multi-media signal from said external source;

encoding said plurality of digital values in said GPU to generate a plurality of encoded values; and

storing said plurality of encoded values in a system memory by said GPU.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said GPU stores said plurality of digital values in a GPU memory.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said plurality of digital values comprise raw data received from said interface.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein said GPU notifies said CPU upon completion of storing encoded data corresponding to each of a successive portions of said multi-media signal.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the method is incorporated into a device driver for said external source.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein said GPU checks whether a command has been received from said CPU to stop encoding.

11. A computer readable medium containing a plurality of instructions which when executed causes one or more processors to process a multi-media signal provided by an external source, said computer readable medium comprising:

code for sending a command to a graphics processing unit (GPU) to encode said multi-media signals;

code for receiving in said GPU a plurality of digital values representing said multi-media signal from said external source;

code for encoding said plurality of digital values in said GPU to generate a plurality of encoded values; and

code for storing said plurality of encoded values in a system memory by said GPU.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said code for sending comprises a driver software, which sends said command.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising a user application code representing a procedure designed for invocation by other codes when said plurality of digital values are to be encoded, wherein said procedure returns without performing said encoding.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11 further comprising code for said GPU notifying said CPU upon completion of storing encoded data corresponding to each of a successive portions of said multi-media signal.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11 further comprising code for checking by said GPU whether a command has been received from said CPU to stop encoding.