Deferred shading graphics pipeline processor having advanced features
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A deferred graphics pipeline processor comprising:
- a geometry unit configured to receive primitive data related to a vertex on a surface and output a data stream in response thereto;
a mode extraction unit configured to receive the data stream from the geometry unit and separate the data stream into spatial data and non-spatial data;
a sorting unit configured to receive the spatial data from the mode extraction unit for storage;
a multi-buffered polygon memory configured to receive the non-spatial data from the mode extraction unit for storage; and
a mode injection unit configured to retrieve at least a portion of the non-spatial data from the polygon memory and output retrieved non-spatial data;
whereinthe mode injection unit is associated with at least one cache to determine whether the retrieved non-spatial data is cached, andthe mode injection unit is operative to read the non-spatial data previously stored in a first frame simultaneously while the mode extraction unit is operative to store the non-spatial data in a second frame.
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Abstract
A deferred shading graphics pipeline processor and method are provided encompassing numerous substructures. Embodiments of the processor and method may include one or more of deferred shading, a tiled frame buffer, and multiple?stage hidden surface removal processing. In the deferred shading graphics pipeline, hidden surface removal is completed before pixel coloring is done. The pipeline processor comprises a command fetch and decode unit, a geometry unit, a mode extraction unit, a sort unit, a setup unit, a cull unit, a mode injection unit, a fragment unit, a texture unit, a Phong lighting unit, a pixel unit, and a backend unit.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A deferred graphics pipeline processor comprising:
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a geometry unit configured to receive primitive data related to a vertex on a surface and output a data stream in response thereto; a mode extraction unit configured to receive the data stream from the geometry unit and separate the data stream into spatial data and non-spatial data; a sorting unit configured to receive the spatial data from the mode extraction unit for storage; a multi-buffered polygon memory configured to receive the non-spatial data from the mode extraction unit for storage; and a mode injection unit configured to retrieve at least a portion of the non-spatial data from the polygon memory and output retrieved non-spatial data;
whereinthe mode injection unit is associated with at least one cache to determine whether the retrieved non-spatial data is cached, and the mode injection unit is operative to read the non-spatial data previously stored in a first frame simultaneously while the mode extraction unit is operative to store the non-spatial data in a second frame. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for processing pipeline data comprising:
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receiving primitive data related to a vertex on a surface of a screen and outputting a data stream in response thereto; separating the data stream into spatial data corresponding to hidden surface removal data and non-spatial data corresponding to rasterization data; storing the spatial data in a first memory; storing the non-spatial data in a second memory, wherein storing the non-spatial data further comprises reading the non-spatial data previously stored in a first frame simultaneously while storing the non-spatial data in a second frame; and retrieving at least a portion of the non-spatial data from the second memory; and determining whether retrieved non-spatial data is cached; and transmitting at least a portion of the non-spatial data in response thereto. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification