Patent ID: 7551178

Claim:
A method for processing computer graphics data, the method comprising: processing texel data of a first span; and prefetching texel data corresponding to a coordinate of first texel data of a subsequent second span from an external memory device to cache memory while the texel data of the first span is processed; wherein prefetching texel data includes: calculating the coordinate of the first texel data of the second span using the following formulas: u′=u+S*du/dx+du/dy ; and v′=v+S*dv/dx+dv/dy; wherein u′ is a first coordinate value of the first texel data of the second span, wherein v′ is a second coordinate value of the first texel data of the second span, wherein u is a first coordinate value of the texel data of the first span, wherein v is a second coordinate value of the texel data of the first span, wherein S is an inclination of an edge of a triangle including the first span, wherein du/dx is a partially differentiated value of u in a direction of x, wherein du/dy is a partially differentiated value of u in a direction of y, wherein dv/dx is a partially differentiated value of v in the direction of x, and wherein dv/dy is a partially differentiated value of v in the direction of y.