Patents by Inventor Mei-Chi M. Liu

Mei-Chi M. Liu 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: 7095419
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing multi-pass rendering of three-dimensional objects. A rendering pipeline that includes (N) physical texture units and one or more associated buffers emulates a rendering pipeline containing more texture units (M) than are physically present (N). Multiple rendering passes are performed for each pixel. During each texture pass only N sets of texture coordinates are passed to the texture units. The number of passes required through the pipeline to emulate M texture units is M/N, rounded up to the next integer. The N texture units of the rendering pipeline perform look-ups on a given pass for the corresponding N texture maps. The texture values obtained during the texture passes are blended by texture blenders to provide composite texture values. In successive passes, the buffers are used for temporary data and the most current composite texture values. The process is repeated until all desired texture maps are applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas R. Baker, Jeffrey A. Andrews, Mei-Chi M. Liu
  • Patent number: 6975327
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing multi-pass rendering of three-dimensional objects. A rendering pipeline that includes (N) physical texture units and one or more associated buffers emulates a rendering pipeline containing more texture units (M) than are physically present (N). Multiple rendering passes are performed for each pixel. During each texture pass only N sets of texture coordinates are passed to the texture units. The number of passes required through the pipeline to emulate M texture units is M/N, rounded up to the next integer. The N texture units of the rendering pipeline perform look-ups on a given pass for the corresponding N texture maps. The texture values obtained during the texture passes are blended by texture blenders to provide composite texture values. In successive passes, the buffers are used for temporary data and the most current composite texture values. The process is repeated until all desired texture maps are applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2005
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas R. Baker, Jeffrey A. Andrews, Mei-Chi M. Liu
  • Publication number: 20040155884
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing multi-pass rendering of three-dimensional objects. A rendering pipeline that includes (N) physical texture units and one or more associated buffers emulates a rendering pipeline containing more texture units (M) than are physically present (N). Multiple rendering passes are performed for each pixel. During each texture pass only N sets of texture coordinates are passed to the texture units. The number of passes required through the pipeline to emulate M texture units is M/N, rounded up to the next integer. The N texture units of the rendering pipeline perform look-ups on a given pass for the corresponding N texture maps. The texture values obtained during the texture passes are blended by texture blenders to provide composite texture values. In successive passes, the buffers are used for temporary data and the most current composite texture values. The process is repeated until all desired texture maps are applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2004
    Publication date: August 12, 2004
    Inventors: Nicholas R. Baker, Jeffrey A. Andrews, Mei-Chi M. Liu
  • Patent number: 6741259
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing multi-pass rendering of three-dimensional objects. A rendering pipeline is used that includes one or more (N) physical texture units and one or more associated frame buffers to emulate a rendering pipeline containing more texture units (M) than are actually physically present (N). Multiple rendering passes are performed for each pixel of a frame. During each texture pass for each pixel of a frame, only N sets of texture coordinates are passed to the texture units. The number of passes required through the pipeline to emulate M texture units is M/N, rounded up to the next integer number of passes. The N texture units of the rendering pipeline perform the look-ups on a given pass for the correspondingly bound N texture maps. The texture values obtained during the texture passes for each pixel are blended by complementary texture blenders to provide composite texture values for each of the pixels of the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: WebTV Networks, Inc.
    Inventors: Nicholas R. Baker, Jeffrey A. Andrews, Mei-Chi M. Liu
  • Publication number: 20020140703
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing multi-pass rendering of three-dimensional objects. A rendering pipeline is used that includes one or more (N) physical texture units and one or more associated frame buffers to emulate a rendering pipeline containing more texture units (M) than are actually physically present (N). Multiple rendering passes are performed for each pixel of a frame. During each texture pass for each pixel of a frame, only N sets of texture coordinates are passed to the texture units. The number of passes required through the pipeline to emulate M texture units is M/N, rounded up to the next integer number of passes. The N texture units of the rendering pipeline perform the look-ups on a given pass for the correspondingly bound N texture maps. The texture values obtained during the texture passes for each pixel are blended by complementary texture blenders to provide composite texture values for each of the pixels of the frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2001
    Publication date: October 3, 2002
    Inventors: Nicholas R. Baker, Jeffrey A. Andrews, Mei-Chi M. Liu