Methods and systems for rendering data using graphic-list partitions and associated rendering processors

• US 8,339,672 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2009
• Issued: 12/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nguyen, Uoc H., Owen, James E., Henerlau, Paul R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Haskins, Twyler
• Assistant Examiner(s): Guillermety, Fred
• Application Number:
  US12/413,679
• Publication Number:
  US 20100245920A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,366 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.18, 358/2.1, 358/1.15, 382/173, 382/176
• US Class Current: 358/2.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/203 Drawing of straight lines or curves

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention are related to systems and methods for rendering graphical objects in a printing system. According to one aspect of the present invention a graphic list may be partitioned, and the graphic-list partitions may be rendered “out-of-order” or concurrently.

Claims

1. A printing system comprising:

a first rendering processor; and

a partition-renderer scheduler for associating a first graphic-list partition with said first rendering processor based on a partition characteristic of said first graphic-list partition, wherein said first graphic-list partition comprises a partition type, a rendering-order indicator indicating the placement of said first graphic-list partition in a rendering sequence, a processor indicator indicating at least one rendering processor which may be used to render said first graphic-list partition, and a partition body comprising a plurality of graphic-list elements.

2. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein said associating is further based on a renderer characteristic associated with said first rendering processor.

3. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein said partition characteristic is associated with the number of graphical objects in said first graphic-list partition.

4. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein said partition characteristic is associated with the type of graphical objects in said first graphic-list portion.

5. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein:

said first graphic-list partition comprises a first plurality of graphic-list elements; and

said partition characteristic is associated with the overlap status of said first plurality of graphic-list elements.

6. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein said first rendering processor is a specialized renderer.

7. The printing system as described in claim 1 further comprising a second rendering processor.

8. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein said first rendering processor and said partition-renderer scheduler reside on a device selected from the group consisting of a host computing device, a print server, a cloud computing device and a printing device.

9. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein:

said first rendering processor does not reside on a first device; and

said partition-renderer schedule does reside on said first device.

10. The printing system as described in claim 1, wherein said first rendering processor resides on a device selected from the group consisting of a host computing device, a print server, a cloud computing device and a printing device.

11. A printing system comprising:

a plurality of rendering processors; and

a partition-renderer scheduler for associating a first graphic-list partition with a first rendering processor in said plurality of rendering processors based on a partition characteristic associated with said first graphic-list partition, wherein said first graphic-list partition comprises a partition type, a rendering-order indicator indicating the placement of said first graphic-list partition in a rendering sequence, a processor indicator indicating at least one rendering processor which may be used to render said first graphic-list partition, and a partition body comprising a plurality of graphic-list elements.

12. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein:

said first rendering processor resides on a first device; and

a second rendering processor in said plurality of renderers does not reside on said first device.

13. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein:

said first rendering processor comprises a first processing core associated with a first device selected from the group consisting of a host computing device, a print server, a cloud computing device and a printing device; and

a second rendering processor in said plurality of rendering processors comprises a second processing core associated with said first device.

14. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein:

said first rendering processor comprises a first specialized renderer associated with text graphical objects;

a second rendering processor in said plurality of rendering processors comprises a second specialized renderer associated with vector graphical objects; and

a third rendering processor in said plurality of rendering processors comprises a third specialized renderer associated with pictorial graphical objects.

15. The printing system as described in claim 14, wherein said first rendering processor resides on a device selected from the group consisting of a host computing device, a print server, a cloud computing device and a printing device.

16. The printing system as described in claim 14, wherein:

said second rendering processor resides on a printing device; and

said third rendering processor resides on said printing device.

17. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein a said first rendering processor comprises an ASIC.

18. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein said first rendering processor comprises a DSP.

19. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein:

said first rendering processor comprises an ASIC; and

a second rendering processor in said plurality of rendering processors comprises a DSP.

20. The printing system as described in claim 11, wherein said associating is further based on a renderer characteristic associated with said first rendering processor.