Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphic processing system – Plural graphics processors
Patent
1995-08-11
1998-05-26
Bayerl, Raymond J.
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphic processing system
Plural graphics processors
345512, G06F 15167
Patent
active
057573867
ABSTRACT:
An application request for off-screen VRAM is satisfied transparently to the application by allocating off-screen VRAM, if available, or system RAM if off-screen VRAM is unavailable. In addition, a list is kept of previous memory requests so that requests which were satisfied by allocating system RAM can be switched to off-screen VRAM, if such off-screen VRAM should later become available. Allocation of off-screen VRAM is controlled by a device driver that responds to various application memory requests and controls the off-screen VRAM resources, among other things. The device driver receives an allocation request for off-screen VRAM and determines whether the request may be honored with available off-screen VRAM resources. If the request can be honored with available off-screen VRAM resources, the device driver allocates a portion of the available off-screen VRAM resources to honor the request and decreases the amount of available off-screen VRAM resources. If the request cannot be honored with available off-screen resources, the device driver allocates a portion of system RAM to honor the request. The device driver also receives and processes requests to deallocate, previously allocated, off-screen VRAM resources in order to increase the amount of available off-screen VRAM resources. As a result of the increased resources, the device driver may transfer a request that was previously honored with system RAM to the off-screen VRAM resources to honor that request with off-screen VRAM resources.
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Celi, Jr. Joseph
Coffey John P.
Wagner Jonathan Mark
Bayerl Raymond J.
Carlson Alan L.
Dillon Andrew J.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Nguyen Cao H.
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