Patent ID: 7999819

Claim:
A method for managing texture data, comprising: preloading a first plurality of texture descriptor values from a memory location into a first buffer located in a first logic block in response to a read request, wherein the first buffer is configured to receive data in the first logic block; preloading the first plurality of texture descriptor values from a memory location into a second buffer in a second logic block; utilizing the first plurality of texture descriptor values, within the second logic block, to perform a shader calculation; loading, dynamically, a second plurality of texture descriptor values from memory into the first buffer in response to the first logic block requiring additional data; writing the second plurality of texture descriptor values over a portion of the first plurality of texture descriptor values in response to the first buffer being full; maintaining a texture descriptor address value in a texture descriptor address buffer; wherein the texture descriptor address value comprises a combination of the following: a shader type field, configured to store a value indicating shader type; a context quantity field, configured to store a value indicating the quantity of contexts being processed in the second logic block; a group identification field, configured to store a value indicating which of a plurality of groups the texture descriptor is in; and a texture descriptor base address value.