Floating point processor for a three-dimensional graphics accelerator which includes floating point, lighting and set-up cores for improved performance
Patent 5745125 Issued on April 28, 1998. Estimated Expiration Date: 
July 2, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
July 2, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesPixel rendering Architecture for a high performance three dimensional graphics accelerator Command preprocessor for a high performance three dimensional graphics accelerator Draw processor for a high performance three dimensional graphic accelerator Floating-point processor for a high performance three dimensional graphics accelerator Patent #: 5517611 InventorsApplicationNo. 676096 filed on 07/02/1996US Classes:345/503, Coprocessor (e.g., graphic accelerator)345/426, Lighting/shading345/520, Interface (e.g., controller)345/536Plural storage devicesExaminersPrimary: Tung, Kee M.Attorney, Agent or FirmInternational ClassG06F 015/16AbstractA floating point processor for a 3-D graphics accelerator which includes improved performance over prior art designs. The floating point processor includes three specialized engines or function units which streamline floating point operations and which provide improved performance over prior systems. In the preferred embodiment, the floating point processor comprises a floating point core (F-core), a lighting core (L-Core), and a set-up core (S-core). Computations for triangles and vectors are split over the three function units for improved efficiency. The F-core processor receives geometry primitive data and performs floating point operations on the received geometry data. The L-Core processor comprises a fixed point computational unit for performing lighting computations. The set-up core comprises a fixed point computational unit for performing set-up calculations for geometric primitives. Therefore, the present invention comprises an improved floating point processor for a three-dimensional graphics accelerator which includes three separate processing units for improved performance.Other References
| |
