Patent Document ID: 7859548
Application ID: 11551176
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for compiling program instructions to compute cube map coordinates using a shader, comprising: receiving a set of program instructions by a compiler that is stored in a memory and executed by a processor; identifying, by the compiler, a first texture call for reading cube map data from a cube map in the set of program instructions, the first texture call intended for execution by dedicated cube mapping circuitry that is specifically designed to perform cube mapping computations and is idle when cube mapping operations are not being performed; replacing, by the compiler, the first texture call with a first sequence of shader program instructions to compute the cube map coordinates and a second texture call that specifies the cube map coordinates as an operand to produce a modified set of program instructions that read the cube map data from a face of the cube map, wherein a fixed function unit is configured to identify the face of the cube map and output a first cube map coordinate that indicates the face of the cube map and two remaining cube map coordinates when the first sequence of shader program instructions is executed by a general purpose programmable floating point unit within a programmable graphics pipeline that does not include the dedicated cube mapping circuitry; and storing the modified set of program instructions in the memory.