Graphics processing architecture employing a unified shader
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A graphics processor, comprising:
- an arbiter circuit for selecting one of a plurality of inputs in response to a control signal; and
a shader, coupled to the arbiter circuit, operative to process the selected one of the plurality of inputs, the shader including means for performing vertex operations and pixel operations, and performing one of the vertex operations or pixel operations based on the selected one of the plurality of inputs, wherein the shader provides a appearance attribute.
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Abstract
A graphics processing architecture employing a single shader is disclosed. The architecture includes a circuit operative to select one of a plurality of inputs in response to a control signal; and a shader, coupled to the arbiter, operative to process the selected one of the plurality of inputs, the shader including means for performing vertex operations and pixel operations, and wherein the shader performs one of the vertex operations or pixel operations based on the selected one of the plurality of inputs. The shader includes a register block which is used to store the plurality of selected inputs, a sequencer which maintains vertex manipulation and pixel manipulations instructions and a processor capable of executing both floating point arithmetic and logical operations on the selected inputs in response to the instructions maintained in the sequencer.
125 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A graphics processor, comprising:
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an arbiter circuit for selecting one of a plurality of inputs in response to a control signal; and
a shader, coupled to the arbiter circuit, operative to process the selected one of the plurality of inputs, the shader including means for performing vertex operations and pixel operations, and performing one of the vertex operations or pixel operations based on the selected one of the plurality of inputs, wherein the shader provides a appearance attribute. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A unified shader, comprising:
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a general purpose register block for maintaining data;
a processor unit; and
a sequencer, coupled to the general purpose register block and the processor unit, the sequencer maintaining instructions operative to cause the processor unit to execute vertex calculation and pixel calculation operations on selected data maintained in the general purpose register block. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification