Computer graphics system utilizing parallel processing for enhanced performance
First Claim
1. A computer graphics system comprising:
- a plurality of geometry accelerators for processing vertex data representative of graphics primitives and providing rendering data, each of said plurality of geometry accelerators having an input and an output;
a distributor responsive to a stream of vertex data for distributing to said plurality of geometry accelerators chunks of said vertex data for processing by said plurality of geometry accelerators to provide chunks of rendering data, said distributor including means for generating, for each of said chunks of vertex data, an end of chunk bit indicative of the end of a corresponding chunk of vertex data and means for distributing each of said end of chunk bits to one of said geometry accelerators with said corresponding chunk of vertex data, each of said geometry accelerators including means for transmitting each of said end of chunk bits from said input to said output;
a concentrator for receiving said chunks of rendering data and said end of chunk bits from each of said geometry accelerators and responsive to said end of chunk bits for combining said chunks of rendering data from each of said geometry accelerators into a stream of rendering data, wherein said stream of rendering data and said stream of vertex data represent sequences of graphics primitives having the same order; and
a rasterizer responsive to said stream of rendering data for generating pixel data representative of a graphics display.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer graphics system includes a plurality of geometry accelerators for processing vertex data representative of graphics primitives and providing rendering data. The system includes a distributor responsive to a stream of vertex data for distributing to the geometry accelerators chunks of the vertex data for processing by the geometry accelerators to provide chunks of rendering data. The distributor generates an end of chunk bit indicative of the end of each of the chunks of vertex data. The system further includes a concentrator for receiving the chunks of rendering data from each of the geometry accelerators and for combining the chunks of rendering data into a stream of rendering data in response to end of chunk bits. The stream of rendering data and the stream of vertex data represent sequences of graphics primitives having the same order. A rasterizer generates pixel data representative of a graphics display in response to the stream of rendering data.
77 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A computer graphics system comprising:
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a plurality of geometry accelerators for processing vertex data representative of graphics primitives and providing rendering data, each of said plurality of geometry accelerators having an input and an output; a distributor responsive to a stream of vertex data for distributing to said plurality of geometry accelerators chunks of said vertex data for processing by said plurality of geometry accelerators to provide chunks of rendering data, said distributor including means for generating, for each of said chunks of vertex data, an end of chunk bit indicative of the end of a corresponding chunk of vertex data and means for distributing each of said end of chunk bits to one of said geometry accelerators with said corresponding chunk of vertex data, each of said geometry accelerators including means for transmitting each of said end of chunk bits from said input to said output; a concentrator for receiving said chunks of rendering data and said end of chunk bits from each of said geometry accelerators and responsive to said end of chunk bits for combining said chunks of rendering data from each of said geometry accelerators into a stream of rendering data, wherein said stream of rendering data and said stream of vertex data represent sequences of graphics primitives having the same order; and a rasterizer responsive to said stream of rendering data for generating pixel data representative of a graphics display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for processing vertex data in a computer graphics system, comprising the steps of:
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distributing chunks of vertex data representative of graphics primitives to a plurality of geometry accelerators, each having an input and an output; generating, for each of said chunks of vertex data, an end of chunk bit indicative of the end of a corresponding chunk of vertex data; distributing each of said end of chunk bits to one of said geometry accelerators with said corresponding chunk of vertex data; said plurality of geometry accelerators processing said chunks of vertex data to provide chunks of rendering data; said plurality of geometry accelerators transmitting each of said end of chunk bits from said input to said output; combining said chunks of rendering data in response to said end of chunk bits to provide a stream of rendering data, wherein said stream of rendering data and said stream of vertex data represent sequences of graphics primitives having the same order; and rasterizing said stream of rendering data to provide pixel data representative of a graphics display. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification