Patents Examined by Robert Craddock
  • Patent number: 8681157
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus including a storage section storing a plurality of content data and characteristics data of the plurality of content data, and a creation section for creating a moving image having movement according to the characteristics data of each of the plurality of content data and for creating a list screen of the plurality of content data including the moving image for each of the plurality of content data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Reiko Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 8624899
    Abstract: A curve drawing system is described herein that rasterizes arc splines in the GPU of a computer for cubic Bezier drawing of strokes and thin features. The curve drawing system first converts a cubic Bezier representation into an arc spline representation. Then the curve drawing system uses a similar approach to Loop/Blinn modified to cause the pixel shader to perform a point-in-circular-arc test instead of a point-in-Bezier test. Calculating arc radius is a much simpler operation than the alternatives and can be easily and efficiently performed by the pixel shader. Since the stroke of an arc spline is also an arc spline, the drawing system provides a resolution-independent representation of strokes. Thus, the curve drawing system allows several previously difficult graphical features to be efficiently drawn by readily available legacy hardware and used in software programs that are designed to run on a wide variety of hardware.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Ashraf A. Michail, David B. Teitlebaum, Brandon C. Furtwangler
  • Patent number: 8605105
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus and a method for enhancing depth are disclosed. The image processing apparatus may classify an input image into a foreground layer, a middle layer, a background layer, may calculate a representative color of each of the classified layers, and perform rendering of a color stereoscopy of the middle layer and a color stereoscopy of the background layer based on the representative color and a lightness of the background layer, thereby enhancing a stereoscopic effect and a depth. Also, a color temperature of the foreground layer and a color temperature of the middle layer are controlled based on the representative color and the background layer, to generate a difference in depth between the middle layer and the foreground layer, thereby representing an image having a more enhanced depth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ji Young Hong, Ho Young Lee, Du Sik Park
  • Patent number: 8587584
    Abstract: A method for determining interior coordinates is disclosed. The method includes receiving information specifying an object having a plurality of sites and a boundary. Interior coordinates associated with each of the plurality of sites are determined based on the boundary. The interior coordinate associated with each of the plurality of sites represent a system of coordinates that satisfy several properties, including non-negativity and interior locality. At least one value associated with the plurality of sites is then interpolated using the interior coordinates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventors: Anthony D. DeRose, Mark Meyer
  • Patent number: 8581917
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product are provided for remote rendering of computer graphics. The system includes a graphics application program resident at a remote server. The graphics application is invoked by a user or process located at a client. The invoked graphics application proceeds to issue graphics instructions. The graphics instructions are received by a remote rendering control system. Given that the client and server differ with respect to graphics context and image processing capability, the remote rendering control system modifies the graphics instructions in order to accommodate these differences. The modified graphics instructions are sent to graphics rendering resources, which produce one or more rendered images. Data representing the rendered images is written to one or more frame buffers. The remote rendering control system then reads this image data from the frame buffers. The image data is transmitted to the client for display or processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Silicon Graphics International Corp.
    Inventor: Phillip C. Keslin
  • Patent number: 8564620
    Abstract: Automatically adjusting rendered fidelity of an element in a composition may include detecting an element added to a composition and determining fidelity of an added element's rendering based on rendering of one or more other elements in the composition. Rendering of the added element may be automatically adjusted to the determined fidelity to match the rendering of said one or more other elements in the composition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Rachel K. E. Bellamy, Michael Desmond, Jacquelyn A. Martino, Paul M. Matchen, John T. Richards, Calvin B. Swart
  • Patent number: 8558832
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product are provided for generating a plurality of two-dimensional images and a plurality of depth maps for a scene at a point in time. In various embodiments, such two-dimensional images and depth maps may be utilized to generate a plurality of images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: NVIDA Corporation
    Inventors: David Robert Cook, Gerrit A. Slavenburg, Viatcheslav V. Gostrenko
  • Patent number: 8547382
    Abstract: A video graphics system, graphics processor, and method of reducing memory bandwidth consumption include logic that groups binary data of a block of pixels into bit-planes. Each bit-plane corresponds to a different bit position in the binary data of the block and includes a bit value from each pixel in the block at that corresponding bit position. An encoding, associated with the block of pixels, represents which ones of the bit-planes are constant-value bit-planes having binary data comprised of a same bit value from every pixel in the block and which of the bit-planes are mixed-value bit-planes. Logic accesses memory storing the block of pixels to process the binary data of each mixed-value bit-plane and accesses memory storing the encoding to process the binary data of each constant-value bit-plane when a processing operation is performed on the block of pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Kiia K. Kallio
  • Patent number: 8542252
    Abstract: Techniques may comprise identifying surfaces, textures, and object dimensions from unorganized point clouds derived from a capture device, such as a depth sensing device. Employing target digitization may comprise surface extraction, identifying points in a point cloud, labeling surfaces, computing object properties, tracking changes in object properties over time, and increasing confidence in the object boundaries and identity as additional frames are captured. If the point cloud data includes an object, a model of the object may be generated. Feedback of the model associated with a particular object may be generated and provided real time to the user. Further, the model of the object may be tracked in response to any movement of the object in the physical space such that the model may be adjusted to mimic changes or movement of the object, or increase the fidelity of the target's characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Kathryn Stone Perez, Alex Kipman, Nicholas Burton, Andrew Wilson, Diego Fernandes Nehab
  • Patent number: 8537168
    Abstract: A method and system for deferred coverage mask generation in a raster stage of a graphics processor. The method includes receiving a graphics primitive for rasterization in a raster stage of a graphics processor and performing a bounding box test on the graphics primitive to define a bounding rectangle for the graphics primitive. A combined coverage mask is then generated after the completion of the bounding box test. The combined coverage mask indicates a plurality of pixels that are covered by the graphics primitive. The combined coverage mask is divided into a plurality of sub-portions. The sub-portions are allocated to a plurality of raster components to determine sub-pixel coverage for the sub-portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2013
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Walter R. Steiner, Jeffrey R. Sewall
  • Patent number: 8531463
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention provides a computer-implemented method for discrete element modelling of a plurality of discrete elements corresponding to particles and physical geometry elements. The modelling performs a simulation through time of physical interactions of the particles with each other and with the physical geometry elements in a three-dimensional space. The method comprises providing a virtual geometry object comprising a user-defined shape. The virtual geometry object does not undergo physical interaction with the particles or physical geometry elements during the simulation. The method further comprises receiving user-defined parameters for determining the position, orientation and any movement of the virtual geometry object with respect to the three-dimensional space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: DEM Solutions Limited
    Inventors: John Favier, Andrew Milne
  • Patent number: 8520007
    Abstract: A distance information generating unit 4 for rasterizing minute line segments divided by a curved line dividing unit 2 through a combination of straight line cells and corner cells to generate distance information corresponding to a pixel 12 of a display and an edge rasterizing unit 7 for rasterizing edge information about the minute line segments divided by the curved line dividing unit 2 are disposed, and a mapping unit 10 determines whether the pixel 12 is located inside or outside by using the edge information rasterized by the edge rasterizing unit 7, and maps the distance information generated by the distance information generating unit 4 onto the antialiasing intensity 11 of a component 13 included in the pixel 12 according to the results of the inside or outside determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electronic Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Kato, Akira Torii, Hiroyasu Negishi, Ryohei Ishida, Masaki Hamada
  • Patent number: 8514225
    Abstract: Pixel depth values of a user-controlled virtual object in a three-dimensional scene may be re-scaled to avoid artifacts when the scene is displayed. Minimum and maximum threshold values can be determined for the three-dimensional scene. Each pixel depth value of the user-controlled virtual object can be compared to the minimum threshold value and the maximum threshold value. A depth value of each pixel of the user-controlled virtual object that falls below the minimum threshold value can be set to a corresponding low value. Each pixel depth value of the user-controlled virtual object that exceeds the maximum threshold value can be set to a corresponding high value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
    Inventor: Barry M Genova
  • Patent number: 8514231
    Abstract: A display apparatus includes a storage unit which stores a display identification data and a comparative check data obtained from the display identification data by a preset data processing method; and a controller which calculates an inspective check data from the display identification data stored in the storage unit via the data processing method, compares the inspective check data with the comparative check data, and performs an identification data checking process to determine whether there is an error in the display identification data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tai-gyu Kim, Young-chan Kim
  • Patent number: 8466928
    Abstract: Disclosed is an image processing apparatus for inputting a plurality of rectangular images each composed of n×n pixels and outputting line-by-line image data in which one line is composed of n×n×m pixels. A line buffer stores n lines of image data, each line is composed n×n×m pixels. The apparatus generate a write address for writing a rectangular image to the line buffer memory and a read-out address for reading line-by-line image data out of the line buffer memory, and changes over a method of generating the write address between a first write-address generating method and a second write-address generating method whenever m rectangular images are written to the line buffer, and changes over the read-out address between a first read-out-address generating method and a second read-out-address generating method whenever n lines of image data are read out of the line buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Keigo Ogura
  • Patent number: 8427491
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product are provided for remote rendering of computer graphics. The system includes a graphics application program resident at a remote server. The graphics application is invoked by a user or process located at a client. The invoked graphics application proceeds to issue graphics instructions. The graphics instructions are received by a remote rendering control system. Given that the client and server differ with respect to graphics context and image processing capability, the remote rendering control system modifies the graphics instructions in order to accommodate these differences. The modified graphics instructions are sent to graphics rendering resources, which produce one or more rendered images. Data representing the rendered images is written to one or more frame buffers. The remote rendering control system then reads this image data from the frame buffers. The image data is transmitted to the client for display or processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: Silicon Graphics International Corp.
    Inventor: Phillip C. Keslin
  • Patent number: 8421794
    Abstract: The disclosure describes an adaptive multi-shader within a processor that uses one or more high-precision arithmetic logic units (ALUs) and low-precision ALUs to process data based on the type of the data. Upon receiving a stream of data, the adaptive multi-shader first determines the type of the data. For example, the adaptive multi-shader may determine whether the data is suitable for high-precision processing or low-precision processing. The adaptive multi-shader then processes the data using the high-precision ALUs when the data is suitable for high-precision processing, and processes the data using the high-precision ALUs and the low-precision ALUs when the data is suitable for low-precision processing. The adaptive multi-shader may substantially reduce power consumption and silicon size of the processor by implementing the low-precision ALUs while maintaining the ability to process data using high-precision processing by implementing the high-precision ALUs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Yun Du, Guofang Jiao, Chun Yu
  • Patent number: 8421819
    Abstract: A display control device used to govern non-content regions in a display space, and selectively determine data for display in the non-content regions is described. The display control device can identify the non-content regions, and determine types of data that can be filled in the non-content regions. Once determined, the fill data can be presented in the non-content regions concurrently with an image frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Gerard Ziemski
  • Patent number: 8416253
    Abstract: When a processor, which transits from a first mode that causes a guest operating system to operate to a second mode that causes a virtual machine monitor managing the guest operating system to operate, when previously set transition condition is satisfied, transits to the second mode, a determining unit determines a cause or the transition. When it is determined that an execution of a process related to a completion of writing the image information in an image storage unit on the guest operating system is the cause, a detecting unit detects an updated portion representing an unmatched portion of the image information between before and after writing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Mika Minematsu, Masataka Goto, Yasuyuki Nishibayashi, Shinya Murai
  • Patent number: 8405666
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for recreating graphics processing unit (GPU) state information associated with a migrated virtual machine (VM). A VM running on a first VM host coupled to a first graphics device, comprising a first GPU, is migrated to a second VM host coupled to a second graphics device, in turn comprising a second GPU. A context module coupled to the first GPU reads its GPU state information in its native GPU state representation format and then converts the GPU state information into an intermediary GPU state representation format. The GPU state information is conveyed in the intermediary GPU state representation format to the second VM host, where it is received by a context module coupled to the second GPU. The context module converts the GPU state information related to the first GPU from the intermediary GPU state representation format to the native GPU state representation format of the second GPU.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Tariq Masood