METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FRAME BUFFER OPERATIONS
First Claim
1. A method of operating a data processing system that comprises a host processor and a graphics processor that in response to commands and data received from the host processor, renders frames to be output and writes those frames to a frame buffer, the method comprising:
- when a new frame is to be generated and written to the frame buffer;
determining, for a set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions could have changed from the frame previously-used for the frame buffer;
generating information indicating for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the new frame on the basis of the determination; and
providing to the graphics processor information indicating, for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the frame; and
the graphics processor using the provided sub-region information to determine those sub-regions in the frame that it should render, rendering those sub-regions, and writing the so-rendered sub-regions to the frame buffer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data processing system comprises a host processor and a graphics processor that renders frames to be output and writes those frames to a frame buffer.
When a new frame is to be generated and written to the frame buffer, the host processor determines, for a set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions could have changed from the frame previously used for the frame buffer 30 and generates information indicating which sub-regions should be rendered to generate the new frame on the basis of the determination 31.
The information indicating which sub-regions should be rendered to generate the frame is provided to the graphics processor 32 and the graphics processor uses the provided sub-region information to render only the indicated sub-regions 33.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of operating a data processing system that comprises a host processor and a graphics processor that in response to commands and data received from the host processor, renders frames to be output and writes those frames to a frame buffer, the method comprising:
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when a new frame is to be generated and written to the frame buffer; determining, for a set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions could have changed from the frame previously-used for the frame buffer; generating information indicating for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the new frame on the basis of the determination; and providing to the graphics processor information indicating, for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the frame; and the graphics processor using the provided sub-region information to determine those sub-regions in the frame that it should render, rendering those sub-regions, and writing the so-rendered sub-regions to the frame buffer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A data processing system comprising:
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a host processor; a graphics processor that in response to commands and data received from the host processor, renders frames to be output and writes those frames to a frame buffer; and a frame buffer that stores output frames generated by the graphics processor;
wherein the data processing system is configured to;when a new frame is to be generated and written to the frame buffer; determine, for a set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions could have changed from the frame previously used for the frame buffer; generate information indicating for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the new frame on the basis of the determination; and provide to the graphics processor the information indicating, for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the frame; and the graphics processor is configured to use the provided sub-region information to determine those sub-regions in the frame that it should render, render those sub-regions, and to write the so-rendered sub-regions to the frame buffer. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer readable storage medium storing computer software code which when executing on a processor performs a method of operating a data processing system that comprises a host processor and a graphics processor that in response to commands and data received from the host processor, renders frames to be output and writes those frames to a frame buffer, the method comprising:
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when a new frame is to be generated and written to the frame buffer; determining, for a set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions could have changed from the frame previously-used for the frame buffer; generating information indicating for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the new frame on the basis of the determination; and providing to the graphics processor information indicating, for the set of plural sub-regions that the frame has been divided into, which of those sub-regions should be rendered to generate the frame; and the graphics processor using the provided sub-region information to determine those sub-regions in the frame that it should render, rendering those sub-regions, and writing the so-rendered sub-regions to the frame buffer.
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Specification