Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-09
2002-05-21
Teska, Kevin J. (Department: 2122)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S428000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06392667
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for representing objects in an aggregated or consolidated manner within a defined space, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for consolidating a set of objects into one or more sets called a “rollup”, based upon a spatial definition, a perspective viewpoint, and a proximity of the objects to one another.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Certain problems become apparent when trying to represent and view multiple objects which exist within any spatial area. For example, based on the viewer's perspective, overlap and occlusion of certain objects or portions of objects in a three-dimensional space may occur with respect to other objects or portions of other objects. This overlap will prevent certain objects from being viewed in their entirety. Likewise, objects represented pictorially in a two-dimensional space may overlap each other if the predefined space is too small to arrange the objects so they may be viewed in their entirety. Finally, problems arise in trying to view moving objects in a space, since the amounts of overlap and occlusion change over time.
An example of these and other problems encountered in viewing and representing objects in space may be given using a simple example of a person viewing a flock of birds in flight. Various factors effect the viewer's perception of the flock. The spatial definition of the flock is defined by the three-dimensional volume containing the birds, the number of birds, and the position of each bird within the volume containing the flock. A perspective of the spatial definition is defined by a viewer's distance from the flock, the viewer's position in relation to the entire flock (view from underneath, off to the right or left side, etc.), and the proximity of the birds to each other within the flock. Furthermore, as the flock moves through the air, the viewer's perspective is constantly changing. Thus, if the flock were viewed from one side, it would be perceived differently from the same flock viewed from directly underneath. At times, it will not be possible to view each bird in its entirety due to overlap and occlusion of some birds by others. Finally, if the viewer were positioned a far distance from the flock, distinctions between individual birds may become less apparent and two birds may appear to touch and become one, for example.
In
FIG. 1
, a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system is shown. This is a known system for representing the positional location of an object within a three-dimensional space. The origin is labeled (0,0,0) and has values for dimensions X, Y and Z of 0, 0 and 0 respectively. The solid lines extending from the origin are labeled as the X, Y, and Z axes. The solid lines change to double lines at the point where they pass behind imaginary walls of the cube shown in the figure. Ordinarily, the X dimension measures distance left or right, the Y dimension measures up or down distance, and the Z dimension refers to front or back distance, with respect to the origin.
The X, Y and Z dimensions may have associated incremental numerical values representing distance, such as centimeters, inches, feet, miles, etc. or time in minutes, hours, seconds, etc. Various differing quantitative units and quantities of measurement can be used for the X, Y and Z axes. In
FIG. 1
, all of the coordinate values for points labeled are positive; however, values for dimensions can be negative as well as positive. Using this coordinate system, any single point's position within the three-dimensional space may be represented by X, Y, and Z values. The position labeled (1,1,1) in
FIG. 1
represents a point in space, 1 X unit, 1 Y unit, and 1 Z unit from the origin. More importantly, point (1,1,1) “appears” to be a certain distance away from the origin (0,0,0) in the space, as observed by the viewer of the drawing. This visual perspective “appearance” occurs mainly because of the solid and double lines drawn between the various points in FIG.
1
. When the solid lines become double lines, they “appear” to pass behind the walls defined by each point labeled in FIG.
1
. This appearance defines an imaginary three-dimensional cube. The cube pictorially and geometrically defines an enclosed cubical area of space within the overall space of the coordinate system. When the cube is viewed on the page, its-depth and three-dimensional appearance can be seen and “imagined” by the reader.
Referring now to
FIG. 2
, objects A-J, represented by circles, may be pictorially inserted into the space defined by the coordinate system. The viewer can imagine the objects as being spheres, each having the same radial size, within the three-dimensional space. The center of each spherical object A-J is located at some point having X, Y and Z values. The position of the center of each object is shown by the table of FIG.
3
. All of the spherical objects, except for object I, visually appear to be, and are geometrically located, within the three-dimensional space defined by the cube as shown. Object I is not within the cube area of
FIG. 2
because its X coordinate, as shown in the table of
FIG. 3
, is 1.25. This X value places object I to the right of the rightmost plane (side) of the cube, since the four points defining this plane (1,0,0), (1,1,0) and (1,0,1) all have X coordinates of 1.
As drawn, certain objects in the figure appear to occlude parts of other objects. For example, object C appears to occlude a portion of object A. That is, object C appears to be in the foreground and object A appears to be further in the background within the three-dimensional space. Likewise, objects G, H and D appear to be in the foreground, and partially occlude objects E, F and B, respectively. If many objects were to be drawn into the figure at various locations, it is quite possible that many overlaps and occlusions would occur. Eventually, certain objects would be partially or totally obscured by foreground objects. Which objects appear occluded depends upon the perspective viewpoint of the viewer.
If the three-dimensional space shown in
FIG. 2
were to be viewed perpendicular to the plane defined by points (0,0,1), (1,0,1), (1,1,1) and (0,1,1) (i.e., viewed from above), certain objects would appear obscured which were not obscured from the viewpoint shown in FIG.
2
. For example, object G may partially obscure object C since object G is positioned “above” object C. Likewise, when viewed from above, objects E, F and H would partially obscure objects A, B and D, respectively. If many more objects were placed within the three-dimensional space, other objects would be partially or totally obscured from the perspective viewpoint. In a space with many objects, it becomes difficult to discern the portions of any one object from the boundaries or portions of another.
DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART
In prior art computer network management software applications, it is often desirable to display a pictorial representation of the computer network and its interconnected devices. An example of such software is SunNet Manager™ produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. This product allows the manager of a computer network to view a network pictorially using graphical representations of network devices and network connections. Various views of the network may be provided to the user of the software. Oftentimes in network management software, a graphical network line will be shown connecting icons on the screen; this line represents the network. Branches or “subnets” may extend from the graphical network line. An example of such a graphical network view is shown in FIG.
6
A.
In
FIG. 6A
, computer software (not shown) graphically displays various components of a computer network on a display
100
. The image includes subnets
102
-
104
connected to router
101
. The subnets
102
-
104
include network devices
105
-
108
,
110
-
113
and
114
-
116
, respectively. The view shown in
FIG. 6A
is an un-condensed view of the network. The lines and devices graphica
McKinnon Bill
Newhouse Tim
Rustici Eric
Aprisma Management Technologies Inc.
Rossi Jeffrey Allen
Teska Kevin J.
Wolf Greenfield and Sacks, P.C.
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