Patent ID: 7489320

Claim:
A display controller for efficiently supporting sprites in an electronic device that has a memory device that stores main display data and said sprites for presentation upon a display device, the display controller populating a fetch table with pixel source identifiers that indicate pixel sources from among said main display data and said sprites, said pixel source identifiers corresponding to display pixels that are actively displayed on said display device, said display controller utilizing said pixel source identifiers to directly locate said display pixels from said pixel sources, said display controller providing said display pixels from said memory device directly to said display device; and initializing a fetch table pointer for a current pixel source identifier to begin a new display frame of display pixels on said display device, said current pixel source identifier corresponding to a current display pixel for immediate display on said display device; wherein display pipe of said display controller reads said current pixel source identifier, said display pipe then fetching said current display pixel from said memory device and providing said current display pixel directly to said display device without any intervening processing or temporary storage; and said display pipe reads said new current pixel source identifiers and fetches said new current display pixels at a fetch rate of one display pixel per clock cycle of a display clock; and wherein said fetch rate conserves memory bandwidth for accessing said memory device, said fetch rate also conserving operating power for said electronic device because of optimizing said fetch rate, said fetch rate being achieved by said display pipe of said display controller through direct display-pixel identifications from said fetch table.