Patent ID: 7417637
Filing Date: 2008-08-26
Classification: G09G

Abstract:
1. A method of arbitrating between multiple request streams from multiple sub-units of graphics processing pipeline, each of the sub-units being coupled to one another and to a common shared memory resource, the method comprising: receiving a different request stream from each of the sub-units to access the shared memory resource, the urgency for each of the request streams being established by: determining in a single clock cycle whether an output of a requesting sub-unit generating one of the multiple request streams is not blocked from another of the sub-units to define one of the different request streams, and simultaneously, in the same single clock cycle, determining that requested data has not been received by the requesting sub-unit from the shared memory resource; integrating the urgency for each of the different request streams over a plurality of the clock cycles to produce a servicing priority for each of the request streams based on the urgency of the request stream; and arbitrating between the sub-units for access to the shared memory resource based on the servicing priority for each of the request streams to select one of the multiple request streams for servicing by the shared memory resource.