Patent ID: 7944450
Filing Date: 2011-05-17
Classification: G06F,G06T

Abstract:
1. A computing system capable of parallelizing the operation of one or more GPUs supported on a hybrid CPU/GPU fusion chip and one or more GPUs supported on one or more external graphics cards, said computing system comprising: CPU memory space for storing one or more graphics-based applications and a graphics library for generating graphics commands and data (GCAD) during the execution of said one or more graphics-based applications; a CPU/GPU fusion-architecture chip having one or more GPUs, an interconnect network, and a memory controller for controlling access to said CPU memory space; one or more external graphics cards supporting one or more GPUs, and operably connected to said interconnect network by way of a data communication interface; wherein said one or more external graphics cards are connected to said CPU/GPU fusion-architecture chip by way of a data communication interface; a multi-mode parallel graphics rendering subsystem supporting multiple modes of parallel operation selected from the group consisting of object division, image division, and time division, and wherein each mode of parallel operation includes at least three stages, namely, decomposition, distribution and recomposition; wherein said multi-mode parallel graphics rendering subsystem further includes: a plurality of graphic processing pipelines (GPPLs), implemented using said GPUs, and supporting a parallel graphics rendering process that employs one or more of said multiple modes of parallel operation in order to execute graphic commands, process graphics data, and render pixel-composited images containing graphics for display on a display device during the run-time of said one or more graphics-based applications, and said display device being connectable to at least one of said one or more external graphics cards; and an automatic mode control module for automatically controlling the switching into, out of, and transitioning between said multiple modes of parallel operation during the run-time of said one or more graphics-based applications so that said GPUs are driven in a parallelized manner during the run-time of said one or more graphics-based applications; wherein said decomposition module divides up said stream of graphic commands and data (GCAD) according to the mode of parallel operation controlled by said automatic mode control module; wherein said distribution module distributes said stream of graphics commands and data to one or more of said GPUs according to the mode of parallel operation controlled by said automatic mode control module; wherein one or more of said GPUs execute said graphics commands using said graphics data, and generate partial pixel data sets associated with frames of images of said 3D scene to be composited, according to the mode of parallel operation controlled by said automatic mode control module; and wherein said recomposition module merges together partial pixel data sets produced from one or more of said GPUs, according to said mode of parallel operation and controlled by said automatic mode control module, and producing a final pixel data set for display on said display device.