System, method, and computer program product for using compression with programmable sample locations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9230362-B2
Application number	US-201314024555-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2013
Priority date	Sep 11, 2013
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product enable compression with programmable sample locations, where the compression is a function of the programmable sample locations. The method includes the steps of storing a first value specifying a programmed sample location within a pixel in a sample pattern table and storing, in a memory, geometric surface parameters corresponding to a first attribute at the programmed sample location within a first pixel of a display surface. An instruction to store a second value specifying the programmed sample location within the pixel in the sample pattern table is received. The attribute is reconstructed based on the geometric surface parameters and the first value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing, by a graphics processor, a first value specifying a programmed sample location within a pixel in a sample pattern table;
storing, in a memory, geometric surface parameters corresponding to a first attribute at the programmed sample location within a first pixel of a display surface;
receiving, by the graphics processor, an instruction to store a second value specifying the programmed sample location within the pixel in the sample pattern table;
reading, by the graphics processor, the geometric surface parameters from the memory; and
reconstructing, by the graphics processor, the attribute based on the geometric surface parameters and the first value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reconstructing comprises reading the first programmed sample location from the sample pattern table.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample pattern table is stored in the memory.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pointer corresponding to the sample pattern table is stored in a state register associated with the display surface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pointer corresponding to the sample pattern table is stored in a page table associated with the memory.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample pattern table is stored in a. portion of the memory that is allocated to the display surface.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample pattern table is stored in a hardware unit that is configured to operate on per-sample attributes.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample pattern table is stored in a memory interface unit.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the reconstructed attribute in the display surface.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after reconstructing the attribute, storing the second value specifying the programmed sample location within the pixel in the sample pattern table.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storing of the geometric surface parameters and the reconstructing of the attribute are performed by a first processing unit, and further comprising:
initiating a read of the attribute from the memory by a second processing unit;
determining that the attribute is stored in a compressed format represented by the geometric surface parameters;
storing, by the first processing unit, the reconstructed attribute in the memory; and
returning the reconstructed attribute to the second processing unit.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sample pattern table cannot be accessed by the second processing unit.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
reconstructing additional attributes based on the additional geometric surface parameters read from the memory; and
storing the reconstructed attribute and the additional reconstructed attributes in the memory.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing additional values specifying one or more sample locations within a second pixel in a second sample pattern table, wherein the display surface is associated with the sample pattern table and a second display surface that includes the second pixel is associated with the second sample pattern table.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the display surface is partitioned into tiles that each include multiple pixels and the geometric surface parameters, and wherein at least a portion of the sample pattern table is stored in a first portion of the memory that is associated with a first tile that includes the first pixel.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the geometric surface parameters and the at least a portion of the sample pattern table are stored in a second portion of the memory that is associated with a second tile.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising storing additional geometric surface parameters and at least a portion of an additional sample pattern table in the first portion of the memory that is associated with the first tile.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute represents depth.

19. A system comprising:
a memory configured to store a display surface; and
a graphics processor that is coupled to the memory and configured to:
store a first value specifying a programmed sample location within a pixel in a sample pattern table;
store, in the memory, geometric surface parameters corresponding to a first attribute at the programmed sample location within a first pixel of the display surface;
receive an instruction to store a second value specifying the programmed sample location within the pixel in the sample pattern table;
read the geometric surface parameters from the memory; and
reconstruct the attribute based on the geometric surface parameters and the first value.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a graphics processor, causes the graphics processor to perform steps comprising:
storing a first value specifying a programmed sample location within a pixel in a sample pattern table;
storing, in a memory, geometric surface parameters corresponding to a first attribute at the programmed sample location within a first pixel of a display surface;
receiving an instruction to store a second value specifying the programmed sample location within the pixel in the sample pattern table;
reading the geometric surface parameters from the memory; and
reconstructing the attribute based on the geometric surface parameters and the first value.

Assignees

• Nvidia Corp

Inventors

• Lum Eric B
• Bolz Jeffrey Alan
• Bastos Rui Manuel
• Khodakovsky Andrei
• Amsinck Christian Johannes
• Schneider Bengt-Olaf

Classifications

• G06T15/503 Primary

  Blending, e.g. for anti-aliasing · CPC title

• G06T15/005

  General purpose rendering architectures · CPC title

• G06T11/40

  Filling planar surfaces by adding surface attributes, e.g. adding colours or textures · CPC title