Patent ID: 8922565

Claim:
A method comprising: in response to a draw request, determining whether or not a processing unit, other than any graphics processing unit, is available to perform a secondary processing function to assist in graphics pipeline processing, the processing unit processing data outside of a graphics pipeline and having a primary processing function that is different from the secondary processing function; requesting allocation of the processing unit to perform the secondary processing function that is different than the primary processing function of the processing unit to assist in the graphics pipeline processing, wherein the secondary processing function is optional for the processing unit and comprises processing graphics pipeline data of the graphics pipeline outside of the graphics pipeline; determining whether or not the processing unit is performing the primary processing function; in a case that the allocation request is successful when the processing unit is not performing the primary processing function: allocating the processing unit in a case that the processing unit is at least not performing the primary processing function that is different from the secondary processing function; making the graphics pipeline data available to the processing unit; monitoring a processing status of the processing unit; integrating data output by the processing unit into the graphics pipeline data using the processing status; and in a case that the allocation request is unsuccessful, processing the draw request without using the processing unit to perform the secondary processing function.