Method and mechanism for programmable filtering of texture map data in 3D graphics subsystems

Abstract

A system, method and apparatus to provide flexible texture filtering. A programmable texture filtering module is introduced into the graphics processing pipeline of a graphic coprocessor and graphic processor integrated with the host. A program from a defined instruction set may then be loaded into texture processing cores to process texture data consistent with the program.

1 . A method comprising: 
 fetching coordinate data for a pixel to be rendered;    fetching texel values corresponding to the pixel;    filtering the texel values through a programmable filter; and    outputting a filtered texture value for the pixel.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein filtering texel values comprises: 
 reading a control register; and    using at least one location specified in the control register as a source location.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein fetching coordinate data comprises: 
 retrieving X, Y, Z coordinate data from a vertex pipeline.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 writing coordinate fraction data to a plurality of registers.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein outputting comprises: 
 writing the filtered texture value to a register; and    signaling a processor that the filtered texture value is available.    
     
     
         6 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a fragment processing module;    a programmable texture filtering module in communication with the fragment processing module to programmably filter texture data corresponding to at least one pixel; and    a frame buffer processing module to combine filtered texture data with an existing frame buffer.    
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein the programmable texture filtering module comprises: 
 a plurality of control registers;    a plurality of source registers;    a plurality of temporary registers; and    at least one output register.    
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of Clam  7  wherein the source registers are read only.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the plurality of control registers comprises: 
 a status register;    an address register;    an offset register; and    a plurality of fraction registers.    
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 7  where the plurality of the control registers comprise: 
 at least one sampling register have a bit corresponding to each of the source registers to indicate if sampling of a corresponding source register is required.    
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein the programmable texture filtering module comprises: 
 a plurality of processing cores to execute an instruction set.    
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein a subset of the plurality of cores are to execute a filtering program on at least one pixel in parallel.  
     
     
         13 . A system comprising: 
 a memory,    a plurality of texture processing cores (TPC) coupled to the memory to programmably filter texture data;    a fragment processing module to apply the filtered texture data to at least one fragment; and    a display to display an image created using the at least one fragment.    
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the plurality of TPC and the fragment processing module are integrated with a host processor.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the plurality of TPCS and the fragment processing module reside in a graphics coprocessor.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13  comprising: 
 a register set associated with each TPC of the plurality.    
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising: 
 an accelerated graphics port coupling the graphics coprocessor to the memory.    
     
     
         18 . A computer readable storage media containing executable computer program instructions which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method comprising: 
 fetching coordinate data for a pixel to be rendered;    fetching texel values corresponding to the pixel;    filtering the texel values through a programmable filter; and    outputting a filtered texture value for the pixel.    
     
     
         19 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 18  which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method further comprising: 
 reading a control register; and    using at least one location specified in the control register as a source location.    
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 18  which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method further comprising: 
 retrieving X, Y, Z coordinate data from a vertex pipeline.    
     
     
         21 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 18  which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method further comprising: 
 writing coordinate fraction data to a plurality of registers.    
     
     
         22 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 18  which when executed cause a digital processing system to perform a method further comprising: 
 writing the filtered texture value to a register; and    signaling a processor that the filtered texture value is available.