System and method for dynamically allocating accelerated graphics port memory space

• US 5,999,743 A
• Filed: 09/09/1997
• Issued: 12/07/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Compaq Computer Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Elliot, Robert C., Lester, Robert Allan, Jones, Phillip M., Santos, Gregory N., Horan, Ronald T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elamin, Abdelmoniem I.
• Application Number:
  US08/926,422
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 395/652, 395/500, 395/200.77, 395/876, 398/821
• US Class Current: 710/56
• 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 2360/121 using a cache memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers

Abstract

A computer system having a core logic chipset that functions as a bridge between an Accelerated Graphics Port ("AGP") bus device such as a graphics controller, and a host processor and computer system memory wherein a Graphics Address Remapping Table ("GART table") is used by the core logic chipset to remap virtual memory addresses used by the AGP graphics controller into physical memory addresses that reside in the computer system memory. The GART table enables the AGP graphics controller to work in contiguous virtual memory address space, but actually use non-contiguous blocks or pages of physical system memory to store textures, command lists and the like. Contiguous virtual memory address space must be allocated for the AGP device within the addressable memory space of the computer system, typically 4 gigabytes using 32 bit addressing. The required amount of virtual memory address space for AGP is determined from the AGP device and the information is put into a register of the core logic so that the computer system software may allocate the required amount of memory and assign a base address thereto during computer system startup or POST.

Claims

1. A computer system having a core logic chipset which connects a computer processor and memory to an accelerated graphics port (AGP) bus and a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, said system comprising:

a system processor executing software instructions and generating graphics data;

a system memory having an addressable memory space comprising a plurality of bytes of storage, wherein each of the plurality of bytes of storage has a unique address;

the software instructions and the graphics data being stored in some of the plurality of bytes of storage of said system memory, wherein the graphics data is stored in a plurality of pages of graphics data, each of the plurality of pages of graphics data comprising a number of the plurality of bytes of storage;

an accelerated graphics port (AGP) processor connected to an AGP bus and generating video display data from the graphics data and adapted for a video display to display the video display data;

a core logic chipset having a first interface logic for connecting said system processor to said system memory;

said core logic chipset having a second interface logic for connecting said system processor and said system memory to input-output devices on a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus;

said core logic chipset having a third interface logic for connecting said system processor and said system memory to said AGP bus;

said core logic chipset having a fourth interface logic for connecting said AGP bus to said PCI bus;

said second interface logic having a base address register;

said fourth interface logic having an AGP device address space size register;

said AGP device address space size register having a value which indicates the size of an AGP device address space required by said AGP processor; and

said fourth interface logic communicating the value in said AGP device address space size register to said second interface logic so that a corresponding value is stored in said base address register, wherein the corresponding value stored in said base address register is used by computer system memory mapping software to configure the size of the AGP device address space, the AGP device address space being within the addressable memory space, and said base address register storing a base address value of the AGP device address space after the size of the AGP device address space is configured.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein said system processor is a plurality of system processors.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein said core logic chipset is at least one integrated circuit.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein said at least one integrated circuit core logic chipset is at least one application specific integrated circuit.

5. The computer system of claim 3, wherein said at least one integrated circuit core logic chipset is at least one programmable logic array integrated circuit.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein said base address register comprises a device address space allocation size portion, a base address lower bits portion, a prefetchable portion, a type portion, and a memory space indicator portion.

7. The computer system of claim 6, wherein said device address space allocation size portion is used to determine the size of the AGP device address space required by writing all logic ones thereto then reading therefrom, wherein the binary-weighted value of a first bit having a logic one therein indicates the required size of the AGP device address space.

8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein said device address space allocation size portion stores the base address value of the AGP device address space after the required size of the AGP device address space has been allocated.

9. The computer system of claim 6, wherein said base address lower bits portion indicates the AGP device address space is at least 32 megabytes.

10. The computer system of claim 6, wherein said prefetchable portion indicates memory in the AGP device address space is prefetchable.

11. The computer system of claim 6, wherein said type portion indicates said base address register is 32 bits wide.

12. The computer system of claim 6, wherein said memory space indicator portion indicates said base address register maps into the addressable memory space.

13. The computer system of claim 1, wherein said AGP device address space size register has three bits which are used to store values representing the required amount of the AGP device address space.

14. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a video display connected to said AGP processor.

15. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a network interface card, a hard disk, a floppy disk drive, a modem, a keyboard, and a mouse.

16. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a serial port, a parallel port, a keyboard and a real time clock.

17. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a read only memory basic input-output system (ROM BIOS), a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), a tape drive and a CD ROM drive.

18. A method, in a computer system having a core logic chipset which connects a computer processor and memory to an accelerated graphics port (AGP) bus and a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, of determining and setting the size of AGP device address space required by an AGP graphics processor connected to the AGP bus, said method comprising the steps of:

reading configuration registers of an accelerated graphics port (AGP) processor;

determining the size of an AGP device address space required by the AGP processor based on information from the configuration registers of the AGP processor;

writing a first binary value to a first register to represent the determined size of the AGP device address space;

configuring a second binary value in a second register, wherein the second binary value is derived from the first binary value and indicates the determined size of the AGP device address space;

reading the second register to obtain the determined size of the AGP device address space;

allocating the determined size of the AGP device address space based on the second binary value; and

writing a base address of the allocated AGP device address space in the second register.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of reading configuration registers comprises the step of reading a vendor identification and a device identification.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of determining the size of the AGP device address space comprises the steps of looking up the vendor identification and device identification in a table having sizes of AGP device address space required for given AGP device vendor identifications and device identifications.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of reading configuration registers comprises the step of reading an AGP size register to obtain information for determining the size of the AGP device address space required.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of writing a first binary value to a first register comprises writing a three bit binary value to the first register, where the binary value is selected from the group consisting of 100b, 001b, 010b, 011b, 000b, 101b and 110b, wherein the three bit binary value represents the AGP device address space size of 32 megabytes (MB), 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1024 MB and 2048 MB, respectively.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of reading the second register comprises the steps of writing all logic ones to the second register and then reading back a binary value stored in the second register to obtain the determined size of the AGP device address space by scanning the binary value, starting at the least significant binary bit thereof, and scanning the binary value until a logic one is detected, wherein the bit position of the logic one indicates the determined size of the AGP device address space.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the binary value indicating the determined size of the AGP device address space is selected from the group of binary numbers consisting of 0000000b, 1111111b, 1111110b, 1111100b, 1111000b, 1110000b, 1100000b and 1000000b, wherein the binary value represents the AGP device address space size of 0 megabytes (MB), 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1024 MB and 2048 MB, respectively.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the binary value of 0000000b indicates that no AGP device address space is allocated.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of allocating the determined size of the AGP device address space is performed by a computer system basic input output system (BIOS) memory mapping software during the computer system startup.