Lisa J Grenier

US Patent:

6801202, Oct 5, 2004

Filed:

Jun 28, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/894484

Inventors:

Scott R. Nelson - Pleasanton CA
Lisa Grenier - San Jose CA
Michael F. Deering - Los Altos CA

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

G06F 1516

US Classification:

345505, 345502, 345504, 345506, 712 10, 712 16, 712 18, 712 23

Abstract:

A method and computer graphics system capable of implementing multiple pipelines for the parallel processing of graphics data. For certain data, a requirement may exist that the data be processed in order. The graphics system may use a set of tokens to reliably switch between ordered and unordered data modes. Furthermore, the graphics system may be capable of super-sampling and performing real-time convolution. In one embodiment, the computer graphics system may comprise a graphics processor, a sample buffer, and a sample-to-pixel calculation unit. The graphics processor may be configured to receive graphics data and to generate a plurality of samples for each of a plurality of frames. The sample buffer, which is coupled to the graphics processor, may be configured to store the samples. The sample-to-pixel calculation unit is programmable to generate a plurality of output pixels by filtering the rendered samples using a filter.

US Patent:

6985153, Jan 10, 2006

Filed:

Jul 15, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/195861

Inventors:

Elisa Rodrigues - Union City CA, US
Lisa C. Grenier - San Jose CA, US
Nimita J. Taneja - Castro Valley CA, US

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

G06F 13/18

US Classification:

345535

Abstract:

A graphics system comprising a scheduling network, a sample buffer and a plurality of filtering units. The sample buffer is configured to store sample generated by a rendering engine. The plurality of filtering units are coupled in a linear series. Each filtering unit of the linear series is configured to send a request for a scanline of sample bins to a first filtering unit of the linear series. The first filtering unit is configured to service the scanline requests by sending burst requests to a scheduling network and coordinating the flow of samples forming the bursts from the sample buffer to the filtering units.