Patent ID: 6847378

Claim:
A method for performing a specified linear scale and bias operation on floating point graphics data using a fixed-point multiplier, wherein the method comprises: specifying floating point values for scale and bias; specifying floating point high and low limits on input and output values for each specific type of graphics data; receiving an input value, wherein each input value comprises one or more graphics data values; and performing a specified linear scale and bias operation on the input values to generate output values between the corresponding low and high output value limits, if the input value is greater than the low input limit and less than the high input limit; wherein said performing comprises: calculating a difference between the input value and the low input limit; pre-shifting the difference by a predetermined amount; multiplying the shifted difference by the mantissa of the scale value using a fixed-point multiplier and outputting a resulting product; post-shifting the product by another predetermined amount; and adding the post-shifted result to the low output limit.