公开(公告)号：US5337410A

公开(公告)日：1994-08-09

申请号：US060478

申请日：1993-05-11

Applicant: Peter C. Appel

Inventor： Peter C. Appel

IPC: G06F9/38 ,  G06F7/22 ,  G06F11/267 ,  G06F15/16 ,  G06F15/80 ,  G06T1/20 ,  G09G5/42 ,  G06F15/62

CPC classification number: G06F11/221 ,  G06F7/22 ,  G09G5/42

Abstract: A method and apparatus for merging command/data packets from a plurality of parallel processing units into a concentrated data stream, while also providing for pipeline attribute data storage, direct user access to the pipeline, redirection of the pipeline, data insertion into the pipeline and pipeline diagnostics. The data from a plurality of parallel processing units is recombined in the same order as originally transmitted and then inputted into a buffer for entry into the pipeline. Attribute switching commands are deciphered by the concentrator of the invention and selectively stored and retrieved from the pipeline. New attribute values are passed downstream on command when they are different from existing attributes, or conversely, the concentrator may be overridden by the user so that attribute values supplied by the user may be stored and passed downstream. This technique thus minimizes repetitiveness in attribute switching. Further diagnostics capabilities are provided whereby a user of the graphics processing system is given the ability to plug the pipeline and independently check different data sources and destinations to see if they are functioning properly. This process is further enhanced by the capability of the invention to check the status of each of the concentrator elements in parallel to determine if they are ready before performing any data transfer.

Abstract translation: 一种用于将来自多个并行处理单元的命令/数据分组合并成集中数据流的方法和装置，同时还提供流水线属性数据存储，直接用户对流水线的访问，流水线的重定向，数据插入到流水线中， 管道诊断。 来自多个并行处理单元的数据以与原始发送的顺序重新组合，然后输入到用于进入流水线的缓冲器中。 属性切换命令由本发明的集中器解密，并从管道中选择性地存储和检索。 当新的属性值与现有属性不同时，新的属性值将在命令下游传递，或者相反，该集中器可能被用户覆盖，以便用户提供的属性值可以被存储并传递到下游。 因此，这种技术最小化了属性切换的重复性。 提供了进一步的诊断功能，使图形处理系统的用户能够插入流水线并且独立地检查不同的数据源和目的地以查看它们是否正常工作。 通过本发明能够并行地检查每个集中器元件的状态以确定它们在执行任何数据传输之前是否准备就能进一步增强该过程。