Compressing and decompressing graphics data using gosub-type instructions and direct and indirect attribute settings

• US 6,559,842 B1
• Filed: 10/07/1999
• Issued: 05/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Chan, Jeffrey, Tremblay, Marc, Deering, Michael F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Application Number:
  US09/415,188
• Time in Patent Office: 1,307 Days
• Field of Search: 345/419, 345/420, 345/422, 345/725, 382/232, 382/242
• US Class Current: 345/420
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/20 Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, tesselation

Abstract

A method and instruction set for geometry compression and decompression is disclosed. The method and instruction set includes one or more of the following attributes and instructions: a gosub-type instruction, a goto-type instruction, direct and indirect attribute-setting instructions, and matrix manipulation instructions. The instructions may be embedded within individual vertex descriptions, or they may be specified independent of any individual vertex in order to set global state information that applies to all vertices that follow the instruction. Individual vertex instructions may temporarily override the global settings. A graphics system configured to execute the instruction set is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer software program embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein the computer software program comprises a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are configured to:

receive a set of 3D geometry data including a plurality of vertices;

compress the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

encode direct attribute instructions in the blocks, wherein the direct attribute instructions comprise attribute state information; and

encode indirect attribute instructions in the blocks, wherein the indirect attribute instructions comprise an indirect reference to the attribute state information;

wherein the attribute state information is usable during decompression to set the attributes of the vertices.

2. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the indirect reference is an integer value that serves as a stack pointer.

3. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein each vertex comprises one or more of the following attributes:

xyz position information, normal information, color information, transparency information, displacement information, and texture map coordinate information.

4. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein each vertex further comprises one or more of the following attributes:

index of refraction information, polarization information, and material property information.

5. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the attribute state information comprises one or more of the following:

a scaling value, mirroring data, rotation data, translation data and perspective data.

6. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set matrix instructions, push matrix instructions, pop matrix, and pop-push matrix instructions.

7. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set leaf matrix instructions, set leaf transform instructions, and disable leaf matrix instructions.

8. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the direct and indirect attribute instructions are used with leaf transform instructions that cause vertices to be transformed twice using two different transform matrices in lieu of one concatenated transform matrix.

9. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the direct attribute instructions and the indirect attribute instructions comprise local attribute instructions and global attribute instructions, wherein local attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies only to vertices within the same block as the local attribute instruction, and wherein global attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions that do not have local attribute instructions.

10. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the blocks are either global blocks or local blocks, attribute instructions that are part of local blocks set attribute state information that only applies to vertices within the local block, and wherein attribute instructions that are part of global blocks set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

11. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the instructions are further configured to encode switch-to-uncompressed instructions in one or more of the blocks, wherein the switch-to-uncompressed instructions are indicative of the termination of compressed mode instructions.

12. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the software program is further configured to encode gosub-type and goto-type instructions into the blocks.

13. The software program as recited in claim 12, wherein the software program is further configured to embed end-of-stream instructions at the end of each subroutine referenced by the gosub instructions, wherein the end-of-stream instruction operates as a return from subroutine instruction.

14. The software program as recited in claim 1, wherein the software program is further configured to embed end-of-stream instruction to mark the end of a stream of data.

15. The software program of claim 1, wherein each of the indirect attribute instructions includes an attribute identifier field to indicate which particular attribute is being changed.

30. The software program of claim 15, wherein each of the direct attribute instructions includes a word count field and a number of data words, wherein the word count field indicates said number of data words.

16. A computer software program embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein the computer software program comprises a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are configured to:

receive a set of compressed 3D geometry data;

decompress the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

decode direct attribute instructions that are within the blocks, wherein the direct attribute instructions comprise attribute state information;

decode indirect attribute instructions in the blocks, wherein the indirect attribute instructions comprise an indirect reference to attribute state information; and

utilize the attribute state information to set the attributes of vertices within the blocks.

17. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the indirect reference is an integer value that serves as a stack pointer.

18. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein each vertex comprises one or more of the following attributes:

xyz position information, normal information, color information, transparency information, displacement information, and texture map coordinate information.

19. The software program as recited in claim 18, wherein each vertex further comprises one or more of the following attributes:

index of refraction information, polarization information, and material property information.

20. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the attribute state information comprises one or more of the following:

a scaling value, mirroring data, rotation data and translation data.

21. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set matrix instructions, push matrix instructions, pop matrix instructions, and pop-push matrix instructions.

22. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set leaf matrix instructions, set leaf transform instructions, and disable leaf matrix instructions.

23. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the direct and indirect attribute instructions are used with leaf transform instructions that cause vertices to be transformed twice using two different transform matrices in lieu of one concatenated transform matrix.

24. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the direct attribute instructions and the indirect attribute instructions comprise local attribute instructions and global attribute instructions, wherein local attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies only to vertices within the same block as the local attribute instruction, and wherein global attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

25. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the blocks are either global blocks or local blocks, wherein attribute instructions that are part of local blocks set attribute state information that only applies to vertices within the local block, and wherein attribute instructions that are part of global blocks set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

26. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the software program is further configured to decode switch-to-uncompressed instructions, wherein the switch-to-uncompressed instructions mark the termination of compressed mode instructions.

27. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the software program is further configured to decode gosub-type and goto-type instructions.

28. The software program as recited in claim 27, wherein the software program is further configured to decode end-of-stream instructions marking the end of each subroutine referenced by the gosub-type instructions.

29. The software program as recited in claim 16, wherein the software program is further configured to decode end-of-stream instructions marking the end of a stream of data.

31. A method for compressing 3D geometry data, the method comprising:

receiving a set of 3D geometry data including a plurality of vertices;

compressing the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

encoding direct attribute instructions in the blocks, wherein the direct attribute instructions comprise attribute state information; and

encoding indirect attribute instructions in the blocks, wherein the indirect attribute instructions comprise an indirect reference to the attribute state information;

wherein the attribute state information is usable during decompression to set the attributes of the vertices.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the indirect reference is an integer values that serve as a stack pointer.

33. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein each vertex comprises one or more of the following attributes:

xyz position information, normal information, color information, transparency information, displacement information, and texture map coordinate information.

34. The software program as recited in claim 33, wherein each vertex further comprises one or more of the following attributes:

index of refraction information, polarization information, and material property information.

35. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the attribute state information comprises one or more of the following:

a scaling value, mirroring data, rotation data and translation data.

36. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set matrix instructions, push matrix instructions, pop matrix instructions, and pop-push matrix instructions.

37. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set leaf matrix instructions, set leaf transform instructions, and disable leaf matrix instructions.

38. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the direct and indirect attribute instructions are used with leaf transform instructions that cause vertices to be transformed twice using two different transform matrices in lieu of one concatenated transform matrix.

39. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the direct attribute instructions and the indirect attribute instructions comprise local attribute instructions and global attribute instructions, wherein local attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies only to vertices within the same block as the local attribute instruction, and wherein global attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

40. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the blocks are either global blocks or local blocks, wherein attribute instructions that are part of local blocks set attribute state information that only applies to vertices within the local block, and wherein attribute instructions that are part of global blocks set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

41. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising encoding switch-to-uncompressed instructions in one or more of the blocks, wherein the switch-to-uncompressed instructions are indicative of the termination of compressed mode instructions.

42. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising encoding gosub-type and goto-type instructions into the blocks.

43. The method as recited in claim 42, further comprising embedding end-of-stream instruction at the end of each subroutine referenced by the gosub-type instructions, wherein the end-of-stream instruction operates as a return from subroutine instruction.

44. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising embedding an end-of-stream instruction to mark the end of a stream of data.

45. The method of claim 31, wherein the attribute state information comprises values for a transformation matrix stored in a graphics system, wherein the graphics system is configured to apply the transformation matrix to the plurality of vertices.

46. A method for decompressing compressed 3D geometry data, the method comprising:

receiving a set of compressed 3D geometry data;

decompressing the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

decoding direct attribute instructions that are within the blocks, wherein the direct attribute instructions comprise attribute state information;

decoding indirect attribute instructions in the blocks, wherein the indirect attribute instructions comprise an indirect reference to attribute state information; and

utilizing the attribute state information to set the attributes of vertices within the blocks.

47. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the indirect reference is an integer value that serves as a stack pointer.

48. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein each vertex comprises one or more of the following attributes:

xyz position information, normal information, color information, transparency information, displacement information, material property information, and texture map coordinate information.

49. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the attribute state information comprises one or more of the following:

a scaling value, mirroring data, rotation data and translation data.

50. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set matrix instructions, push matrix instructions, pop matrix instructions, and pop-push matrix instructions.

51. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set leaf matrix instructions, set leaf transform instructions, and disable leaf matrix instructions.

52. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the direct and indirect attribute instructions are used with leaf transform instructions that cause vertices to be transformed twice using two different transform matrices in lieu of one concatenated transform matrix.

53. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the direct attribute instructions and the indirect attribute instructions comprise local attribute instructions and global attribute instructions, wherein local attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies only to vertices within the same block as the local attribute instruction, and wherein global attribute instructions set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

54. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the blocks are either global blocks or local blocks, wherein attribute instructions that are part of local blocks set attribute state information that only applies to vertices within the local block, and wherein attribute instructions that are part of global blocks set attribute state information that applies to all vertices following the global attribute instructions.

55. The method as recited in claim 46, further comprising decoding switch-to-uncompressed instructions, wherein the switch-to-uncompressed instructions mark the termination of compressed mode instructions.

56. The method as recited in claim 46, further comprising decoding gosub-type and goto-type instructions.

57. The method as recited in claim 56, further comprising decoding end-of-stream instructions marking the end of each subroutine referenced by the gosub-type instructions.

58. The method of claim 46, wherein each of the direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions includes an attribute identifier field, wherein a subset of the less frequently used attributes are handled by microcode routines.

59. A computer graphics system comprising:

a bus interface unit configured to receive a set of compressed 3D geometry data comprising a plurality of blocks of data;

one or more decompression units coupled to the bus interface unit, wherein the decompression units are configured to receive one or more of the blocks of data from the bus interface unit, wherein the decompression units are configured to decode attribute instructions that are within the blocks; and

one or more rendering pipelines coupled to receive the decompressed 3D geometry data from the decompression units, wherein the rendering pipelines are configured to utilize attribute state information set by the attribute instructions to determine the attributes of vertices within the blocks.

60. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the attribute state information comprises one or more of the following:

a scaling value, mirroring data, rotation data and translation data.

61. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set matrix instructions, push matrix instructions, pop matrix instructions, and pop-push matrix instructions.

62. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the attribute instructions include one or more of the following instructions:

set leaf matrix instructions, set leaf transform instructions, and disable leaf matrix instructions.

63. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the attribute instructions are used with leaf transform instructions that cause vertices to be transformed twice using two different transform matrices in lieu of one concatenated transform matrix.

64. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the bus interface unit is configured to route global blocks to all decompression units, and wherein the bus interface unit is configured to route local blocks to a single decompression unit.

65. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the attribute instructions comprise direct attribute instructions and indirect attribute instructions, wherein the direct attribute instructions comprise attribute state information, wherein the indirect attribute instructions comprise indirect references to the attribute state information.

66. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the decompression units are further configured to decode switch-to-uncompressed instructions, wherein the switch-to-uncompressed instructions mark the end of a sequence of compressed mode instructions.

67. The graphics system as recited in claim 59, wherein the decompression units are further configured to decode gosub-type and goto-type instructions.

68. The graphics system as recited in claim 67, wherein the decompression units are further configured to decode end-of-stream instructions marking the end of each subroutine referenced by the gosub instructions.

69. The graphics system of claim 59, wherein each of the attribute instructions includes an attribute identifier field, wherein a subset of the values attainable by the attribute identifier field are reserved for implementation-specification customization.

70. A computer-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are executable to:

receive a set of 3D geometry data including a plurality of vertices;

compress the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

encode a first set attribute instruction in at least one of the blocks, wherein the first set attribute instruction comprises first attribute state information comprised in the first set attribute instruction; and

encode a second set attribute instruction in at least one of the blocks, wherein the second set attribute instruction comprises an indirect reference to second attribute state information, wherein the second attribute state information is stored in a location other than in the second set attribute instruction;

wherein the first attribute state information is usable during decompression to set the attributes of at least one vertex;

wherein the second attribute state information is usable during decompression to set the attributes of a plurality of vertices.

71. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 70,

wherein the first set attribute instruction is a local attribute instruction that applies only to vertices within the same block as the first set attribute instruction;

wherein the second set attribute instruction is a global attribute instruction that applies to the plurality of vertices, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of vertices are not located within the same block as the second set attribute instruction.

72. A computer-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are executable to:

receive a set of 3D geometry data including a plurality of vertices;

compress the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

encode a first set attribute instruction in at least one of the blocks, wherein the first set attribute instruction comprises first attribute state information comprised in the first set attribute instruction; and

encode a second set attribute instruction in at least one of the blocks, wherein the second set attribute instruction comprises an indirect reference to second attribute state information, wherein the second attribute state information is stored in a location other than in the second set attribute instruction;

wherein the first attribute state information is usable during decompression to set the attributes of at least one vertex for at least one graphics object;

wherein the second attribute state information is usable during decompression to set the attributes of at least one vertex for each of a plurality of graphics objects.

73. A computer-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are executable to:

receive a set of 3D geometry data including a plurality of vertices;

compress the set of 3D geometry data into a plurality of blocks;

encode a local set attribute instruction in at least one of the blocks, wherein the local set attribute instruction applies only to vertices within the same block as the local set attribute instruction; and

encode a global set attribute instruction in at least one of the blocks, wherein the global set attribute instruction applies to a plurality of vertices, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of vertices are not located within the same block as the global set attribute instruction.

74. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 73, wherein the global set attribute instruction comprises a reference to attribute state information, wherein the attribute state information is stored in a location other than in the global set attribute instruction.