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Method and apparatus for displaying primitives processed by a parallel processor system in a sequential order

  • US 5,325,485 A
  • Filed: 10/30/1992
  • Issued: 06/28/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for processing a graphics data stream in a computer graphics system having a parallel processing system, wherein said graphics data stream is comprised of a plurality of elements, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of :

  • associating a selected one of a plurality of tags with each of a plurality of elements in a graphics data stream, wherein each of said plurality of tags indicates a display order for an associated one of said plurality of elements;

    processing said plurality of elements within a parallel processing system to produce a plurality of processed elements, each of said plurality of processed elements maintaining an association with a selected one of said plurality of tags;

    rasterizing each of said plurality of processed elements in a selected sequence to determine a plurality of new pixel data sets, wherein rasterization of each processed element results in a plurality of new pixel data sets for a plurality of pixels, each new pixel data set including order data derived from a tag associated with each of said plurality of processed elements;

    for each new pixel data set resulting from said rasterization of said plurality of processed elements, determining a current pixel data set in response to a comparison of order data in said new pixel data set with order data in an existing pixel data set for each of said plurality of pixels; and

    displaying said plurality of pixels within a display device utilizing a plurality of current pixel data sets associated with said plurality of pixels as determined in said determining step, wherein said elements are displayed in said order indicated by said plurality of tags within said display device to form an image.

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