Patents by Inventor Edvard Fielding

Edvard Fielding has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12014456
    Abstract: A method of operating a graphics processor when rendering a frame representing a view of a scene using a ray tracing process in which part of the processing for a ray tracing operation is offloaded to a texture mapper unit of the graphics processor. Thus, when the graphics processor's execution unit is executing a program to perform a ray tracing operation the execution unit is able to message the texture mapper unit to perform one or more processing operations for the ray tracing operation. This operation can be triggered by including an appropriate instruction to message the texture mapper unit within the ray tracing program.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2024
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Edvard Fielding, Carmelo Giliberto
  • Patent number: 11954028
    Abstract: There is disclosed a method of storing an encoded block of data in memory comprising encoding a block of data elements and determining a memory location (26) at which the encoded block of data is to be stored. The memory location (26) at which the encoded block of data is stored is then indicated in a header (406) for the encoded block of data by including in the header a memory address value (407) together with a modifier value (500) representing a modifier that is to be applied to the memory address value (407) when determining the memory location (26). When the encoded block of data is to be retrieved, the header (406) is read and processed to determine the memory location (26).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Edvard Fielding, Jian Wang, Jakob Axel Fries, Carmelo Giliberto
  • Patent number: 11887211
    Abstract: A texture cache comprises at least two banks of cache storage to cache texels for processing in texture mapping operations. Access to the cached texels corresponding to a given chunk of texels of a given texture image is controlled according to a selected bank mapping selected from two or more bank mappings supported by the texture cache access control circuitry. Each bank mapping corresponds to a different mapping of the respective texels within the given chunk to the banks of cache storage. In at least one operating mode, the selected bank mapping is selected for the given chunk of texels of the given texture image depending on: at least one of first/second chunk position coordinates associated with the given chunk of texels; and at least one further texture attribute associated with the given texture image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Khaled Tarek Abdellatif Mohamed Khatib, Åsmund Kvam Oma, Edvard Fielding
  • Publication number: 20230230197
    Abstract: A texture cache comprises at least two banks of cache storage to cache texels for processing in texture mapping operations. Access to the cached texels corresponding to a given chunk of texels of a given texture image is controlled according to a selected bank mapping selected from two or more bank mappings supported by the texture cache access control circuitry. Each bank mapping corresponds to a different mapping of the respective texels within the given chunk to the banks of cache storage. In at least one operating mode, the selected bank mapping is selected for the given chunk of texels of the given texture image depending on: at least one of first/second chunk position coordinates associated with the given chunk of texels; and at least one further texture attribute associated with the given texture image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2022
    Publication date: July 20, 2023
    Inventors: Khaled Tarek Abdellatif Mohamed KHATIB, Åsmund Kvam OMA, Edvard FIELDING
  • Publication number: 20230195638
    Abstract: A method of operating a cache system is disclosed. Information indicating a link between associated header and payload cache entries is maintained. The link information may be used to reduce cache coherency traffic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2022
    Publication date: June 22, 2023
    Inventors: Olof Henrik UHRENHOLT, Edvard FIELDING, Ole Henrik JAHREN
  • Patent number: 11645807
    Abstract: When performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture to provide an output sampled texture value for use when rendering an output in a graphics processing system, a number of positions for which to sample the texture along an anisotropy direction along which samples will be taken in the texture is determined by determining the square root of the coefficient F for an ellipse having the form Ax2+Bxy+Cy2=F corresponding to the projection of the sampling point for which the texture is being sampled onto the surface to which the texture is to be applied, and using the determined square root of the ellipse coefficient F to determine the number of positions for which samples should be taken along the anisotropy direction in the texture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Edvard Fielding, Dominic Hugo Symes
  • Patent number: 11625887
    Abstract: When performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture to provide an output sampled texture value for use when rendering an output in a graphics processing system, an anisotropy direction along which to take samples in the texture is determined by determining X and Y components of a vector of arbitrary length corresponding to the direction of the major axis of an assumed elliptical projection of the sampling point for which the texture is being sampled onto the surface to which the texture is being applied, and then normalising the determined X and Y vector components to provide X and Y components for a unit vector corresponding to the direction of the major axis of the elliptical footprint of the sampling point to be used as the anisotropy direction along which to take samples in the texture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventor: Edvard Fielding
  • Patent number: 11610359
    Abstract: When performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture in a graphics processing system, a number of positions for which to sample the texture along an anisotropy direction is determined. When the determined number of positions for which to sample the texture along the anisotropy direction is a non-integer value that exceeds a lower integer value by more than a threshold amount, samples are taken along the anisotropy direction in the texture for a number of positions corresponding to the next higher multiple of 2 to the determined non-integer number of positions to be sampled. When the determined number of positions for which to sample the texture along the anisotropy direction does not exceed the lower integer value by at least the threshold amount, samples are taken along the anisotropy direction in the texture for a number of positions corresponding to the lower integer value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Edvard Fielding, Rodolfo Luis Jalabert Castellanos
  • Publication number: 20230043630
    Abstract: A method of operating a graphics processor when rendering a frame representing a view of a scene using a ray tracing process in which part of the processing for a ray tracing operation is offloaded to a texture mapper unit of the graphics processor. Thus, when the graphics processor's execution unit is executing a program to perform a ray tracing operation the execution unit is able to message the texture mapper unit to perform one or more processing operations for the ray tracing operation. This operation can be triggered by including an appropriate instruction to message the texture mapper unit within the ray tracing program.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: February 9, 2023
    Inventors: Edvard FIELDING, Carmelo GILIBERTO
  • Publication number: 20220318138
    Abstract: There is disclosed a method of storing an encoded block of data in memory comprising encoding a block of data elements and determining a memory location (26) at which the encoded block of data is to be stored. The memory location (26) at which the encoded block of data is stored is then indicated in a header (406) for the encoded block of data by including in the header a memory address value (407) together with a modifier value (500) representing a modifier that is to be applied to the memory address value (407) when determining the memory location (26). When the encoded block of data is to be retrieved, the header (406) is read and processed to determine the memory location (26).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2022
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Inventors: Edvard FIELDING, Jian WANG, Jakob Axel FRIES, Carmelo GILIBERTO
  • Publication number: 20220215613
    Abstract: When performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture to provide an output sampled texture value for use when rendering an output in a graphics processing system, a number of positions for which to sample the texture along an anisotropy direction along which samples will be taken in the texture is determined by determining the square root of the coefficient F for an ellipse having the form Ax2+Bxy+Cy2=F corresponding to the projection of the sampling point for which the texture is being sampled onto the surface to which the texture is to be applied, and using the determined square root of the ellipse coefficient F to determine the number of positions for which samples should be taken along the anisotropy direction in the texture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Edvard FIELDING, Dominic Hugo SYMES
  • Publication number: 20220215612
    Abstract: When performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture in a graphics processing system, a number of positions for which to sample the texture along an anisotropy direction is determined. When the determined number of positions for which to sample the texture along the anisotropy direction is a non-integer value that exceeds a lower integer value by more than a threshold amount, samples are taken along the anisotropy direction in the texture for a number of positions corresponding to the next higher multiple of 2 to the determined non-integer number of positions to be sampled. When the determined number of positions for which to sample the texture along the anisotropy direction does not exceed the lower integer value by at least the threshold amount, samples are taken along the anisotropy direction in the texture for a number of positions corresponding to the lower integer value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Edvard FIELDING, Rodolfo Luis Jalabert CASTELLANOS
  • Publication number: 20220215611
    Abstract: When performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture to provide an output sampled texture value for use when rendering an output in a graphics processing system, an anisotropy direction along which to take samples in the texture is determined by determining X and Y components of a vector of arbitrary length corresponding to the direction of the major axis of an assumed elliptical projection of the sampling point for which the texture is being sampled onto the surface to which the texture is being applied, and then normalising the determined X and Y vector components to provide X and Y components for a unit vector corresponding to the direction of the major axis of the elliptical footprint of the sampling point to be used as the anisotropy direction along which to take samples in the texture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventor: Edvard FIELDING
  • Patent number: 11158110
    Abstract: When sampling a pair of mipmaps when performing anisotropic filtering when sampling a texture to provide an output sampled texture value for use when rendering an output in a graphics processing system, more positions along an anisotropy direction are sampled in the more detailed mipmap level than in the less detailed mipmap level. Each position that is sampled may have a single sample taken for it, or may be supersampled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Edvard Fielding, Jorn Nystad
  • Patent number: 11036644
    Abstract: When a data processing operation requires data that is stored in a first cache and the fetching of the data into the first cache is dependent upon data stored in another cache, and an attempt to read the data from the first cache “misses”, the data processing operation is added to a record of data processing operations that have missed in the first cache and the data that is required for the data processing operation is fetched into the first cache by reading the data that is required to fetch the data into the first cache from the another cache and then using that data from the another cache to fetch the required data into the first cache. When the data that is required for the data processing operation has been fetched into the first cache, the data processing operation is performed using the fetched data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Andreas Due Engh-Halstvedt, Edvard Fielding
  • Patent number: 11023152
    Abstract: When storing an array of data in memory, the data array is divided into a plurality of blocks, and for respective groups of the blocks that the data array has been divided into, a set of data representing the group of blocks that includes: for each block of the group of blocks, a set of data for that block of the group of blocks; and a size indication for each of one or more of the blocks of the group of blocks, the size indication for a block of a group of blocks indicating the size in memory of the set of data for that block of the group included in the stored set of data representing the group of blocks, is stored. A set of header data is also stored separately for each group of blocks of the data array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Jorn Nystad, Edvard Fielding, Jakob Axel Fries
  • Patent number: 11010959
    Abstract: When performing foveated rendering, a graphics processor is controlled to render plural, e.g. three, different resolution versions from the same viewpoint for a scene. The rendered different resolution images are then appropriately combined (composited) to provide the output “foveated” image (output frame) that is displayed. The geometry for the scene is processed and sorted into lists for respective rendering tiles of the images being rendered only once, to provide a single set of tile geometry lists that are then used in common when rendering each respective resolution image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Sandeep Kakarlapudi, Andreas Engh-Halstvedt, Samuel Martin, Edvard Fielding
  • Patent number: 10943385
    Abstract: When a renderer of a graphics processor is to perform a graphics rendering operation that uses one or more texture layers in accordance with contribution control data that controls the contribution that each texture layer makes to the rendering operation for a group of fragments, the renderer determines contribution control data for each fragment in the group, and based on the determined contribution control data, either: fetches and uses the texture data values for a texture layer for each fragment in the group from memory, or does not fetch texture data values for a texture layer for each fragment in the group from memory and instead uses a dummy value for the texture layer for each fragment in the group for the graphics rendering operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Peter William Harris, Edvard Fielding
  • Publication number: 20210011646
    Abstract: When storing an array of data in memory, the data array is divided into a plurality of blocks, and for respective groups of the blocks that the data array has been divided into, a set of data representing the group of blocks that includes: for each block of the group of blocks, a set of data for that block of the group of blocks; and a size indication for each of one or more of the blocks of the group of blocks, the size indication for a block of a group of blocks indicating the size in memory of the set of data for that block of the group included in the stored set of data representing the group of blocks, is stored. A set of header data is also stored separately for each group of blocks of the data array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Publication date: January 14, 2021
    Applicant: Arm Limited
    Inventors: Jorn Nystad, Edvard Fielding, Jakob Axel Fries
  • Patent number: 10825207
    Abstract: A fragment shader program to be executed by a fragment shader of a graphics processor can include a graphics texturing instruction that when executed by the fragment shader will cause the fragment shader to send a request to the texture mapper to perform a graphics texture mapping operation in which the texture mapper will perform plural lookups from the same texture in parallel. In response to the request from the fragment shader, the texture mapper of the graphics processor performs plural lookups from the same texture in parallel, and generates a texture mapping operation result using the results of the plural lookups from the same texture for returning to the fragment shader.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Arm Limited
    Inventor: Edvard Fielding