Method, System, and Apparatus for Processing Video and/or Graphics Data Using Multiple Processors Without Losing State Information

A method for processing video and/or graphics data using multiple processors in a computing system, the method comprising:

• halting the rendering of pixels by a first GPU associated with a current operational mode, and saving state information associated with the current operational mode in a location accessible by a second GPU;
• and
• resuming the rendering of pixels by at least a second GPU associated with a desired operational mode using said saved state information.

An apparatus comprising:

• at least a first GPU comprising a first plurality of general purpose execution units, the at least first GPU operative to execute a native function code module that causes the at least first GPU to provide state information for at least a second GPU;
• and
• at least a second GPU comprising a second plurality of general purpose execution units having a same programming model as the plurality of general purpose execution units on the at least first GPU, the at least second GPU operative to execute the same native function code module as the at least first GPU and operative to obtain the state information provided by the at least first GPU and use the state information via the same native function code module to continue processing.

A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions that when executed cause one or more processors to:

• determine that a computing system should be transitioned from a current operational mode to a desired operational mode;
• halt the rendering of pixels by a first GPU associated with the current operational mode, and save state information in general purpose register sets associated with the current operational mode;
• copy the saved state information from the general purpose register sets associated with the current operational mode to a memory location that is accessible by at least a second GPU associated with the desired operational mode.

A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions that when executed by an integrated circuit fabrication system, cause the integrated circuit fabrication system to produce:

• at least a first GPU comprising a plurality of single instruction multiple data (SIMD) execution units, each operative to execute a native function code module;
• and
• at least second GPU comprising a plurality of single instruction multiple data (SIMD) execution units having a same programming model as the plurality of SIMD execution units on at least first GPU, the at least second GPU operative to execute the same native function code module as the at least first GPU.

An integrated circuit comprising:

• a graphics processing unit (GPU) operative to halt a rendering of pixels associated with a current operational mode, and save state information associated with the current operational mode in a location accessible for use by a second GPU.