Abstract: A method for generating anti-aliased lines and characters is disclosed. The method comprises generating a texture map based on a distribution and applying the texture map to a polygonal region. In one aspect of this embodiment, the step of generating a texture map based on a distribution further comprises generating a texture map comprising a series of concentric half circles. In the texture map, the concentric half circles represent a decreasing intensity as the radius of the concentric half circle increases. Additionally, in one embodiment, the texture map is generated using a Gaussian distribution. In another aspect of this embodiment, for each texel in a texture map defining a character, the smallest distance between a texel and each line segment that forms a character is calculated. The smallest distance is used to determine an intensity value using the distribution. Then, the texel is associated with the intensity value to form a texture map for the character.

Abstract: A method and apparatus encompasses a technique for routing an information packet through a satellite communications system 20 from a source satellite 38 to a destination satellite 40. A path through the system 20 is chosen for the packet and an identifier identifying the path is appended to the packet. In addition, an identifier identifying the destination satellite 40 is appended to the packet. Satellites in the system 20 then use the identifiers in the packet to route the packet to the destination satellite 40. If the chosen path is not available, an alternate path can be taken by the packet. In one embodiment of the present invention, a centralized controller 36 is provided for controlling the routing of packets throughout the entire system 20.