Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphic processing system – Interface
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-25
2001-04-03
Peikari, B. James (Department: 2186)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphic processing system
Interface
C345S503000, C345S519000, C711S119000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06211891
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to device drivers, and more particularly, to device drivers for use with Accelerated Graphics Port chipsets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computer systems in general and IBM compatible personal computer systems in particular have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modem society. A personal computer system can usually be defined as a desk top, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a system processor and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, a display device, a keyboard, one or more diskette drives and a fixed disk storage device. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is the use of a system board to electrically connect these components together. These personal computer systems are information handling systems which are designed primarily to give independent computing power to a single user (or a relatively small group of users in the case of personal computers which serve as computer server systems) and are inexpensively priced for purchase by individuals or small businesses.
One aspect of the computer system that has received attention is the interface between the system unit and the display device. It is desirable that this interface be as fast and efficient as possible because this interface determines what a user sees when operating the computer system. To this end, a number of protocols and standards have been developed to increase the speed and efficiency of the interface between the system unit and the display device. One such standard is the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) interface standard.
The AGP interface standard provides a high performance, component level interconnect which is targeted at three-dimensional (3D) graphical display applications. The AGP interface standard is based on a set of performance extensions or enhancements to a PCI bus architecture. More specifically, the AGP interface standard provides for deeply pipelined memory read and write operations, which hides memory access latency, demultiplexing of address and data on a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus to improve efficiency and timing for transfer rates that are faster than that of the PCI bus. These enhancements are realized through the use of sideband signals. The AGP interface is intended to provide a dedicated visual display device connection where all other input/output (I/O) devices remain on the PCI bus. The AGP interface standard is set forth and defined by the
Accelerated Graphics Port Interface Specification,
which is provided by Intel Corporation. The implementation of the AGP interface standard by a particular chipset includes an AGP chipset device driver which is called when access to the interface is desired.
Some operating systems are known to provide a central repository for all program setting and options within an operating system. For example, with the WINDOWS 95 and WINDOWS 98 operating systems available from Microsoft Corp., a file referred to as the Registry is provided to hold all this information. The Registry is a database that contains entries for application settings as well as WINDOWS 95 settings and preferences. Many of these values are generated by selecting customization options in, for example, the Control Panel of WINDOWS 95. Information that is stored in the Registry includes hardware settings, object properties, operating system settings and application options. For the purposes of this invention, WINDOWS 95 and WINDOWS 98 are substantially the same.
The Registry includes at least two portions, a user portion and a system portion. The user portion, which is stored in a file named user.dat, stores user specific information such as Control Panel settings, Desktop icons, Start menu folders and shortcuts, Explorer configuration, settings for Windows 95 accessories and Network connections and passwords. The system portion, which is stored in a file named system.dat, stores system specific information such as various hardware classes that Window 95 recognizes, devices attached to the computer for each hardware class, Resources (e.g., IRQs, I/O ports, and DMA channels) that are used by each device, Plug and Play information, protected-mode device drivers that are loaded at startup, internal Windows 95 settings and settings for specific 32-bit applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has been discovered an AGP chipset's caches may be configured using a registry to communicate the configuration information to an AGP chipset device driver.
More specifically, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method for configuring a graphics chipset having a graphics chipset cache. The method includes providing an operating system with a persistent data file, the persistent data file storing cache configuration parameter information for configuring a graphics chipset cache, loading the cache configuration parameter information from the persistent data file upon execution of a graphics chipset driver, and configuring the graphics chipset cache based upon the cache configuration parameter information.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for configuring an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) chipset having an AGP chipset cache. The method includes providing an operating system with a persistent data file, the persistent data file storing cache configuration parameter information for configuring the AGP chipset cache, loading the cache configuration parameter information from the persistent data file upon execution of an AGP chipset driver, and configuring the AGP chipset cache based upon the cache configuration parameter information.
In another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus for configuring an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) chipset having an AGP chipset cache. The apparatus includes an operating system having a persistent data file, the persistent data file storing cache configuration parameter information for configuring the AGP chipset cache. The apparatus also includes means for loading the cache configuration parameter information from the persistent data file upon execution of an AGP chipset driver, and means for configuring the AGP chipset cache based upon the cache configuration parameter information.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5914727 (1999-06-01), Horan et al.
patent: 5914730 (1999-06-01), Santos et al.
patent: 5933158 (1999-08-01), Santos et al.
patent: 5936640 (1999-08-01), Horan et al.
Common Architecture,Desktop PC/AT Systems, Mar. 21, 1996, Verion .93, pp. 1-26.
Intel Corporation,Accelerated Graphics Port Interface Specification, Jul. 31, 1996, Revision 1.0, pp. ii-x and pp. 1-151.
Paul McFedries,Windows95 Unleashed, Copyright 1996, pp. 387-411.
Advanced Micro Devices , Inc.
Peikari B. James
Peugh Brian R.
Skjerven Morrill & MacPherson LLP
Terrile Stephen A.
LandOfFree
Method for enabling and configuring and AGP chipset cache... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for enabling and configuring and AGP chipset cache..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for enabling and configuring and AGP chipset cache... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2548574