Frame buffer organization and reordering
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorsMichael A. Wasserman, Michael G. Lavelle, David C. Kehlet, Yan Yan Tang, Ewa M. Kubalska
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A graphics system includes a frame buffer, a write address generator, and a pixel buffer. A burst of pixels received from the frame buffer may not be in display order. In one embodiment, a write address generator calculates a write address for each pixel in the burst of pixels output from the frame buffer. The write address corresponds to a relative display order within the burst for each respective pixel. Each pixel in the burst is stored to its write address in the pixel buffer. This way, the pixels in the burst are stored in display order within the pixel buffer.
Claims50
A graphics system comprising:
- a frame buffer configured to output pixels, wherein the pixels output by the frame buffer are not output in display order;
- a write address generator configured to calculate a write address for each pixel output by the frame buffer, wherein each write address corresponds to a relative display order of a respective pixel;
- and
- a pixel buffer coupled to store the pixels output by the frame buffer at the write addresses calculated by the write address generator.
A graphics system comprising:
- a frame buffer configured to output pixels, wherein the pixels output by the frame buffer are not output in display order;
- a pixel buffer coupled to store the pixels output by the frame buffer in an order that the pixels are output from the frame buffer;
- and
- a read address generator configured to calculate a read address for each pixel stored in the pixel buffer, wherein each read address corresponds to a relative display order of a respective pixel, and wherein successively generated read addresses access pixels in the pixel buffer in display order.
A method of reordering pixels received from a frame buffer, comprising:
- receiving a plurality of pixels from the frame buffer, wherein the pixels are received in an order other than display order;
- storing the pixels in a pixel buffer in the order they are received;
- generating a read address for each pixel stored in the pixel buffer, wherein each read address corresponds to a relative display order of a respective pixel;
- and
- reading the pixels out of the pixel buffer using successively generated read addresses generated by said generating, wherein successively generated read addresses address pixels in display order.
A method of reordering pixels received from a frame buffer, comprising:
- receiving a plurality of pixels from the frame buffer, wherein the pixels are received in an order other than display order;
- generating a write address for each pixel received from the frame buffer, wherein each write address corresponds to a relative display order of a respective pixel;
- and
- storing the pixels in the pixel buffer using successively generated write addresses generated by said generating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.