Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7995069?dq=2296019
Timestamp: 2015-07-28 02:24:26
Document Index: 543077992

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60']

Patent US7995069 - Graphics system with embedded frame buffer having reconfigurable pixel formats - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA graphics system including a custom graphics and audio processor produces exciting 2D and 3D graphics and surround sound. The system includes a graphics and audio processor including a 3D graphics pipeline and an audio digital signal processor. The graphics system has a graphics processor includes an...http://www.google.com/patents/US7995069?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7995069 - Graphics system with embedded frame buffer having reconfigurable pixel formatsAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7995069 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 12/461,238Publication dateAug 9, 2011Filing dateAug 5, 2009Priority dateAug 23, 2000Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS7576748, US20060197768, US20100073394Publication number12461238, 461238, US 7995069 B2, US 7995069B2, US-B2-7995069, US7995069 B2, US7995069B2InventorsTimothy van Hook, Farhad FouladiOriginal AssigneeNintendo Co., Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (99), Non-Patent Citations (93), Referenced by (1), Classifications (12), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetGraphics system with embedded frame buffer having reconfigurable pixel formats
US 7995069 B2Abstract
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/398,531, filed Apr. 6, 2006, now allowed, is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/082,854, filed Mar. 18, 2005, is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/722,380, filed Nov. 28, 2000, which was filed in accordance with 35 U.S.C. �119(e)(1) and claims the benefit of the provisional application Ser. No. 60/226,910 filed on Aug. 23, 2000, entitled “Graphics System With Embedded Frame Buffer Having Reconfigurable Pixel Formats.”
provisional Application No. 60/161,915, filed Oct. 28, 1999 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/465,754, filed Dec. 17, 1999, both entitled “Vertex Cache For 3D Computer Graphics”, provisional Application No. 60/226,912, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,215, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method and Apparatus for Buffering Graphics Data in a Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/226,889, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,419, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Graphics Pipeline Token Synchronization”, provisional Application No. 60/226,891, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,382, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Direct to and Indirect Texture Processing In A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/226,888, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,367, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Recirculating Shade Tree Blender For A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/226,892, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,218, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Efficient Generation Of Texture Coordinate Displacements For Implementing Emboss-Style Bump Mapping In A Graphics Rendering System”, provisional Application No. 60/226,893, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,381 filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Environment-Mapped Bump-Mapping In A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/227,007, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,216, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Achromatic Lighting in a Graphics System and Method”, provisional Application No. 60/226,900, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,226, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Anti-Aliasing In A Graphics System”, utility application Ser. No. 09/585,329, filed Jun. 2, 2000, entitled “Variable Bit Field Color Encoding”, provisional Application No. 60/226,890, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,227, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Dynamically Reconfiguring The Order Of Hidden Surface Processing Based On Rendering Mode”, provisional Application No. 60/226,915, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,212 filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Providing Non-Photorealistic Cartoon Outlining Within A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/227,032, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,225, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Providing Improved Fog Effects In A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/226,885, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,664, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Controller Interface For A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/227,033, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,221, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Texture Tiling In A Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/226,899, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,667, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method And Apparatus For Pre-Caching Data In Audio Memory”, provisional Application No. 60/226,913, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,378, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Z-Texturing”, provisional Application No. 60/227,031, filed Aug. 23, 2000 entitled “Application Program Interface for a Graphics System”, provisional Application No. 60/227,030, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,663, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Graphics System With Copy Out Conversions Between Embedded Frame Buffer And Main Memory”, provisional Application No. 60/226,886, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,665, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Method and Apparatus for Accessing Shared Resources”, provisional Application No. 60/226,894, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/726,220, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Graphics Processing System With Enhanced Memory Controller”, provisional Application No. 60/226,914, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,390, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Low Cost Graphics System With Stitching Hardware Support For Skeletal Animation”, and provisional Application No. 60/227,006, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and its corresponding utility application Ser. No. 09/722,421, filed Nov. 28, 2000, both entitled “Shadow Mapping In A Low Cost Graphics System”. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
An exemplary interface between the pixel engine 700 and the embedded frame buffer 702 is shown in FIG. 8. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 8, there are 4 copies of the embedded frame buffer (702 a, 702 b, 702 c and 702 d)—2 for color and 2 for Z. In this example, a read or write access to the embedded frame buffer from the pixel engine transfers 96 bits of data or 4 quads of color and Z. There are 4 address/control and read buses to the core of each of the buffers. The Z channels A and B preferably share a write port 703 a, and the color channels A and B preferably share a separate write port 703 b. The embedded frame buffer preferably has enough bandwidth to blend 4 pixels per clock for peak fillrate of 800M pixels per second. The maximum size of the embedded frame buffer is 640�528�24b-color and 24b Z. The embedded frame buffer is single-buffered and expected to transfer a finished image to the external frame buffer for display. Double buffered display is achieved in this manner. The address/control, read and write buses shown in FIG. 8 are defined in the following table:
This function copies the contents of the embedded frame buffer (EFB) to the display buffer 113 in main memory. By the term “copy out” we don't mean simply a transfer of all the information; rather, we mean that the contents of the embedded frame buffer are read out, further processed (e.g., filtered, resampled, scaled, etc.) and that the resulting data is then sent elsewhere (e.g., to an external point sample type frame buffer). The origin of the rectangle is defined by SrcLeft (X) and SrcTop (Y). The Clear flag enables clearing of the color and z buffer to the current clear color and z values. The clearing of the embedded frame buffer preferably occurs simultaneously with the copy operation.
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