Method and system for accessing and displaying a compressed display image in a computer system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A compressed display image controller comprising:
- a compressed memory for storing compressed subregions of a display image;
a cache for storing decompressed subregions of the display image;
a compressor in communication with the cache for compressing the decompressed subregions of the display image stored in the cache;
a decompressor in communication with the compressed memory for decompressing a compressed subregion of the display image, and in communication with the cache for placing the decompressed subregion in the cache; and
a virtual frame buffer controller in communication with the cache for receiving an access request for a pixel in the display image, for determining whether the pixel is in the cache, and if not, for issuing a request to the decompressor to decompress a compressed subregion including the pixel; and
a compositor in communication with the compressed memory for decompressing the compressed subregions of the display image and for buffering at least a portion of the decompressed display image as the decompressed display image is being read to refresh a display monitor.
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Abstract
A display controller, implemented in software or hardware, maintains the primary display image visible on a computer monitor in compressed subregions or chunks. The controller emulates a conventional frame buffer by making the compressed image appear as if it has a linear address space. Most of the image is compressed and the remainder is selectively decompressed and cached to satisfy read and write requests. To display the image, the controller decompresses the display image'"'"'s constituent subregions and buffers the decompressed data so that it can be scanned out to a display monitor.
171 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A compressed display image controller comprising:
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a compressed memory for storing compressed subregions of a display image; a cache for storing decompressed subregions of the display image; a compressor in communication with the cache for compressing the decompressed subregions of the display image stored in the cache; a decompressor in communication with the compressed memory for decompressing a compressed subregion of the display image, and in communication with the cache for placing the decompressed subregion in the cache; and a virtual frame buffer controller in communication with the cache for receiving an access request for a pixel in the display image, for determining whether the pixel is in the cache, and if not, for issuing a request to the decompressor to decompress a compressed subregion including the pixel; and a compositor in communication with the compressed memory for decompressing the compressed subregions of the display image and for buffering at least a portion of the decompressed display image as the decompressed display image is being read to refresh a display monitor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for accessing a compressed display image comprising:
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receiving an access request to access a pixel at a pixel location in a linear addressed frame buffer; storing a decompressed portion of the linear addressed frame buffer in a cache; storing a compressed portion of the linear addressed frame buffer in compressed memory; in response to the access request, determining whether the pixel is in the cache; fetching a compressed subregion having the pixel when the pixel is not in the cache; decompressing the compressed subregion; and allowing the access of the pixel to occur. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for emulating a linear addressed frame buffer comprising:
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storing variable sized, compressed subregions of a display image; storing a decompressed portion of the display image in a cache; receiving a request to access a pixel in the display image in a linear address format; and determining whether the requested pixel is in the decompressed portion, and if so, directing the request to a location of the pixel in the cache, and if not, rejecting the request, and decompressing a compressed subregion including the pixel and placing the decompressed subregion in the cache. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification