Abstract: A system and method to measure the intraocular pressure (IOP) of an eye and reflected impedance of an eye based on the generation of a source of electromagnetic wave energy with a radar generating device, creating a pattern of the generated electromagnetic wave energy at a predetermined frequency and radiating the pattern of electromagnetic wave energy onto a surface of an eye and within, from a distance, and receiving reflected energy back from the surface of the eye, converting the reflected wave energy into a Smith Chart display data format that can process the electromagnetic resonance reflection properties of the eye and display these reflection properties for IOP and for assessing other eye diseases as well as sensing indicators of brain diseases.

Abstract: An engine decompresses texture data belonging to a virtual texture stored in processor readable memory so that decompressed texture data may be used to update a selected sub-image of a large texture image used to render a CGI. The updated sub-image may be at any location in the larger texture image. A processor executes an application to provide control information to the engine. The control information may include commands to decode compressed texture data at source addresses and provide a stream of decompressed virtual texture data to selected sub-image destination addresses in a texture buffer used for rendering a CGI. Similarly, the engine may compress texture sub-image information and store the compressed result at a destination address.

Abstract: Methods and systems for rendering graphics data on demand are described herein. One or more page tables are stored that map virtual memory addresses to physical memory addresses and task IDs. A page fault is experienced when a task running on a GPU accesses, using a virtual memory address, a page of memory that has not been written to by the GPU. Context switching is performed in response to the page fault, which frees up the GPU. GPU threads are identified and executed in dependence on the task ID associated with the virtual memory address being used when the page fault occurred to thereby cause the GPU to write to the page of memory associated with the page fault. Further context switching is performed to retrieve and return the state of the task that was running on the GPU when the page fault occurred, and the task is resumed.

Abstract: An engine decompresses texture data belonging to a virtual texture stored in processor readable memory so that decompressed texture data may be used to update a selected sub-image of a large texture image used to render a CGI. The updated sub-image may be at any location in the larger texture image. A processor executes an application to provide control information to the engine. The control information may include commands to decode compressed texture data at source addresses and provide a stream of decompressed virtual texture data to selected sub-image destination addresses in a texture buffer used for rendering a CGI. Similarly, the engine may compress texture sub-image information and store the compressed result at a destination address.

Abstract: The invention described herein includes a system, method, and computer program product for adding functionality to an application program. The invention includes a tool which can be used in conjunction with any of a plurality of application programs. The tool can be represented to a user by a tool icon on a desktop. After creating or opening a file or other object with an application program, the user can drag and drop a tool icon representing the tool into the application window. This allows the tool program to operate on the object. A windowing system event handler receives information from a user interface regarding the dragging and dropping of the tool icon. The fact that the tool icon has been dragged and dropped into the application window is reported by the windowing system event handler to a base module. The base module mediates communication between the tool program and the application program.

Abstract: A method for switching decoding and rendering of a digital video stream from a first graphics processing unit (GPU) to a second GPU. The digital video stream is evaluated to determine an amount of time until a next intra-coded frame (I-frame) in the digital video stream. If the amount of time is below a threshold, decoding and rendering of the digital video stream is switched to the second GPU on the next I-frame in the digital video stream and decoding the digital video stream by the first GPU is stopped. If the amount of time is above the threshold, the digital video stream is decoded on both the first GPU and the second GPU, the rendering of the digital video stream is switched to the second GPU, and decoding the digital video stream by the first GPU is stopped.

Abstract: Methods of rendering a view of a scene include steps that specify quality levels of anti-aliasing and texture filtering for predetermined regions of a display, or selected objects within the scene, or both. Methods of processing data for display include steps adapted to process portions of the image according to selected or predetermined anti-aliasing and texture filtering quality levels. Graphics processing equipment includes hardware or software adapted to perform non-uniform anti-aliasing of images according to specified criteria.

Abstract: Embodiments of a system and method for handling interrupts are described herein. In an embodiment interrupts from various client components in a system (also referred to as clients) are processed by an interrupt handler component uniformly. The various clients signal interrupts in different manners. For example, some clients signal interrupts in a level-based manner, and some clients signal interrupts in a pulse-based manner. In an embodiment, all interrupts received by the interrupt handler are formed into an event message according to a uniform format regardless of the manner in which the interrupt is signaled. The event message includes all information necessary for a host processor interrupt service routine (ISR) to service the interrupts without reading hardware registers. Event messages are stored in an event buffer for access and handling by the host. The event buffer is managed by the interrupt handler.

Abstract: Systems for context switching a requestor engine during an atomic process without corrupting the atomic process. Typically an atomic process cannot be interrupted prior to completion and if it is interrupted, the process will terminated abnormally resulting in a corrupted transaction. Systems that allow for a controlled interruption of an atomic process without corruption with subsequent context switching are presented. The system consists of a context-switchable requester engine, a context switch controller, shared resource synchronizer, and a shared resource system. The system may also containing multiple local and remote context-switchable requestor engines as well as multiple local and remote shared resource systems. A method for context switching a requestor engine during an atomic process without corrupting the atomic process is also presented.

Abstract: The invention described herein includes a system, method, and computer program product for adding functionality to an application program. The invention includes a tool which can be used in conjunction with any of a plurality of application programs. The tool can be represented to a user by a tool icon on a desktop. After creating or opening a file or other object with an application program, the user can drag and drop a tool icon representing the tool into the application window. This allows the tool program to operate on the object. A windowing system event handler receives information from a user interface regarding the dragging and dropping of the tool icon. The fact that the tool icon has been dragged and dropped into the application window is reported by the windowing system event handler to a base module. The base module mediates communication between the tool program and the application program.

Abstract: Command handling logic receives a plurality of command requests and groups the plurality of command requests into one of a plurality of command tracking classifications to produce classification tagged command requests. The plurality of classification tagged command requests and corresponding plurality of command responses are communicated via a bus. Command classification tracking logic tracks the plurality of classification tagged command requests and a corresponding plurality of classification tagged command response to determine when there are no outstanding command requests associated with one of the plurality of command tracking classifications. There are no outstanding command requests associated with one of the plurality of command tracking classifications when the command classification tracking logic has received a number of classification tagged command responses equal to the number of sent classification tagged command requests associated with the same command tracking classification.

Abstract: Embodiments of a system and method for handling interrupts are described herein. In an embodiment interrupts from various client components in a system (also referred to as clients) are processed by an interrupt handler component uniformly. The various clients signal interrupts in different manners. For example, some clients signal interrupts in a level-based manner, and some clients signal interrupts in a pulse-based manner. In an embodiment, all interrupts received by the interrupt handler are formed into an event message according to a uniform format regardless of the manner in which the interrupt is signaled. The event message includes all information necessary for a host processor interrupt service routine (ISR) to service the interrupts without reading hardware registers. Event messages are stored in an event buffer for access and handling by the host. The event buffer is managed by the interrupt handler.

Abstract: Methods of rendering a view of a scene include steps that specify quality levels of anti-aliasing and texture filtering for predetermined regions of a display, or selected objects within the scene, or both. Methods of processing data for display include steps adapted to process portions of the image according to selected or predetermined anti-aliasing and texture filtering quality levels. Graphics processing equipment includes hardware or software adapted to perform non-uniform anti-aliasing of images according to specified criteria.

Abstract: A method and apparatus provides context switching of logic in an integrated circuit using one or more test scan circuits that use test data during a test mode of operation of the integrated circuit to store and/or restore non-test data during normal operation of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes context control logic operative to control the test scan circuit to at least one of: store and restore context state information contained in functional storage elements in response to detection of a request for a change in context during normal operation of the integrated circuit.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product is presented for simulating a system of hardware components. Each component is simulated in a hardware definition language such as VERILOG. Each component is represented as a simulated device under test (DUT) that is incorporated into a simulation module. The invention synchronizes the simulation modules by issuing clock credit to each simulation module. Each simulation module can only operate when clock credit is available, and can only operate for some number of clock cycles corresponding to the value of the clock credit. Operation is said to consume the clock credit. After a simulation module has consumed its clock credit, its DUT halts. Once every simulation module has consumed its clock credit and halted, another clock credit can be issued. This allows checkpointing of the operation of each DUT and simulates parallelism of the DUTs using executable images of manageable size.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product are provided for controlling the blending of pixels using alpha values. The alpha value of a first pixel is compared to the alpha value of a second pixel. The results of the comparison are then used to choose a particular blending operation from among two or more possible blending operations that are made available. The chosen blending operation is then performed so as to produce a blended pixel. The output of the blending operation is referred to hereinafter as pixel display data and includes a set of color coordinates and an alpha value for the blended pixel. The pixel display data is then sent to a frame buffer.

Abstract: A system and method for reducing pulse-to-pulse energy and peak power variation in various types of pulsed lasers, and in Q-switched lasers in particular. The system of invention has a laser cavity with a lasing medium pumped by a pumping device for delivering to the medium a pumping energy E.sub.pump. The system further includes a detection device and circuitry for determining the pulse magnitudes M.sub.i of laser pulses i, such as peak pulse amplitudes A.sub.i, pulse energies E.sub.i, pulse widths W.sub.i or other pulse metrics. According to the method of invention, a feedback mechanism which is in communication with the pumping device ensures pulse-to-pulse stability by increasing the pumping energy E.sub.pump when pulse magnitude M.sub.i of laser pulse i exceeds a mean pulse magnitude [M] and decreasing the pumping energy E.sub.pump when M.sub.i is less than [M]. Alternatively, the feedback mechanism is in communication with the switching device which controls that variable loss factor of the Q-switch.

Abstract: A novelty device to simulate use of a remote control unit is provided with a housing having side walls, a first end wall spaced from a second end wall, and a top wall. A plurality of end wall slots arranged in a parallel relationship are directed through the second end wall, with the top wall having a like number of top wall slots, where each top wall slot includes as associated projection in mechanical relation to a drive link and projection plate, wherein each projection plate is arranged for projection through one of the second end wall slots upon directing an associated link guidingly along an associated top wall slot.

Abstract: A compact fluorescent lamp employs an inner exhaust tubulation formed from glass which is opaque to a given range of electromagnetic radiation. The exhaust tubulation is non-invasively sealed after an outer lamp envelope is sealed by directing upon the exhaust tubulation an amount of such radiation sufficient to heat the tubulation to its softening point. The outer envelope is transparent to the given radiation which, in a preferred embodiment, is in the range of 400 nm to 2500 nm.