Recirculating shade tree blender for a graphics system
First Claim
1. In a graphics system for video game play including interactive user input controls, a processing pipeline that renders and displays images at least in part in response to said interactive user input controls and to stored polygon vertex data and texture data, a multitexture processing subsystem for selectively mapping texture data corresponding to one or more different textures and/or texture characteristics to surfaces of said rendered and displayed images, said multitexture processing subsystem comprising:
- a texture mapper that maps textures, andan interactive color/alpha-component blending unit configured within the pipeline to combine said mapped textures, rasterized color and/or alpha component data to produce a computed color and having a feedback mechanism that enables reintroduction of the computed color into the pipeline, wherein a processing of multiple textures is achieved by an iterative use/reuse of the blending unit,the blending unit being capable of iterating via said feed back mechanism at double the rate that said texture mapper can map said textures.
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Abstract
A graphics system including a custom graphics and audio processor produces exciting 2D and 3D graphics and surround sound. A relatively low chip-footprint, versatile texture environment (TEV) processing subsystem is implemented in a pipelined graphics system circulates computed color and alpha data over multiple texture blending/shading cycles (stages). The texture-environment subsystem combines per-vertex lighting, textures and constant (rasterized) colors to form computed pixel color prior to fogging and final pixel blending. Blending operations for color (RGB) and alpha components are independently processed by a single sub-blend unit that is reused over multiple processing stages to combine multiple textures.
577 Citations
38 Claims
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1. In a graphics system for video game play including interactive user input controls, a processing pipeline that renders and displays images at least in part in response to said interactive user input controls and to stored polygon vertex data and texture data, a multitexture processing subsystem for selectively mapping texture data corresponding to one or more different textures and/or texture characteristics to surfaces of said rendered and displayed images, said multitexture processing subsystem comprising:
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a texture mapper that maps textures, and an interactive color/alpha-component blending unit configured within the pipeline to combine said mapped textures, rasterized color and/or alpha component data to produce a computed color and having a feedback mechanism that enables reintroduction of the computed color into the pipeline, wherein a processing of multiple textures is achieved by an iterative use/reuse of the blending unit, the blending unit being capable of iterating via said feed back mechanism at double the rate that said texture mapper can map said textures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a video game system including a processing pipeline that renders and displays images at least in part in response to interactive user inputs and polygon vertex data and texture data stored in an associated memory, a texture processing subsystem for selectively mapping texture data corresponding to one or more different textures and/or texture characteristics to surfaces of said rendered and displayed images, and a texture environment unit for processing input texture and rasterized color data to provide independent mathematical blending operations on said input texture and rasterized color data, a method for processing multiple textures comprising the steps of:
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(a) performing texture mapping during a texture mapping cycle/stage; (b) using hardware to perform blending operations on a first set of mapped texture and rasterized color data during a first texture environment unit temporal processing cycle/stage; and (c) providing an output of said first temporal processing cycle/stage as an input to a subsequent texture environment unit temporal processing cycle/stage that reuses said same hardware to perform additional blending operations, wherein the duration of each of said texture environment unit temporal processing cycles/stages is at least twice as short as said texture mapping cycle/stage. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. In a graphics system including a multitexture processing subsystem for selectively sampling texture data corresponding to one or more different textures and/or texture characteristics, a hardware shader for performing shading/blending operations that receives a first texture data sample and a subsequent texture data sample from said multitexture processing subsystem and recirculates an output from a shading/blending operation performed using the first texture data sample to an input of said shader for performing a shading/blending operation using the subsequent texture data sample and the output from the shading/blending operation performed on the first texture data sample.
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19. A graphics pipeline including a multitexture processing subsystem that sequentially provides samples of multiple textures to a hardware shader that performs blending/shading operations on texture sample outputs of the multitexture processing subsystem wherein said hardware shader recirculates a resulting output of a blending/shading operation for performing a subsequent blending/shading operation of said resulting output with a subsequent texture sample output.
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20. A graphics processing pipeline that renders and displays images at least in part in response to polygon vertex data and texture data, comprising:
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a recirculating texturing arrangement having a single texture address coordinate/data processing unit, a single texture retrieval unit, and a texture lookup data feedback path for recirculating selected retrieved texture lookup data from the texture retrieval unit back to the texture address coordinate/data processing unit; and
a recirculating shade-tree alpha/color blender arrangement having a hardware shader connected to receive an output of the texture retrieval unit and a feedback path from an output of the hardware shader to an input of the shader for recirculating selected blended color or opacity output data, wherein the recirculating arrangement blends selected shader inputs to provide an output that is fed back for use as an input to the shader for a subsequent blending operation,wherein said texturing arrangement operates simultaneously with said blender arrangement and said blender arrangement is capable of completing two blending operations for each texture mapping operation said texturing arrangement performs. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. In a graphics system, a multitexture processing subsystem comprising:
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a texturing arrangement having a single texture address coordinate/data processing unit, a single texture retrieval unit, and a texture lookup data feedback path for recirculating retrieved indirect texture lookup data from a single texture retrieval unit back to the texture address coordinate/data processing unit; and a recirculating hardware shader connected to receive an output of the texture retrieval unit, wherein the shader blends selected received outputs to provide a calculated color or opacity output that is selectively fed back for use as an input to the shader for a subsequent blending operation, wherein said texturing arrangement operates concurrently with said hardware shader and said hardware shader can complete two blending operations for each texture operation said texturing arrangement performs. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method of blending selected color and/or alpha information to produce a blended output specifying color and/or alpha information associated with at least one pixel in a frame buffer, in a time period between successive image frame outputs of said frame buffer to a display, the method comprising:
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causing a hardware-implemented recirculating shader to perform a succession of blending operations in said time period between said successive image frame outputs of said frame buffer, each blending operation comprising blending said selected color and/or alpha information, according to a programmable blending function, to produce a blended output operable to be used to specify said output color information associated with said at least one pixel in said frame buffer before the contents of said frame buffer are provided to a display, storing blended outputs resulting from said succession of blending operations as intermediate results; multiplexing between said stored intermediate results to select and supply at least one previously blended output as at least some of said selected color and/or alpha information operable to be further blended in a subsequent blending operation performed by said hardware-implemented recirculating shader. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38)
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37. The method of 36 wherein performing said alpha compare function comprises at least one of the following functions:
- always, never, not equal, equal, less, greater than or equal, less than or equal and greater than and Boolean combinations of said following functions.
Specification