Arm Limited

Anders Lassen

Jorn Nystad

Sean Tristram Ellis

Alexis Mather

To encode a texture to be used in a graphics processing system, the texture is first downscaled to generate a lower resolution representation of the texture. An upscaled versionof the lower resolution version of the texture is then compared to the original texture to determine a set of difference values indicating for each texel the difference between the value of the texel in the upscaled version of the texture and in the original texture. An encoded texture data block is then generated for each 8&#xd7;8 block of texels in the original texture. Each encoded texture data block contains a base color value taken from the lower resolution representation of the texture and a set of index values indicating the difference data from the determined set of difference data to be used when decoding the block of texture data to generate the data values to be used for the texture data elements that the block of texture data represents.

Methods of and apparatus for encoding and decoding data

A tile-based graphics processing pipeline comprising a rasteriser, a renderer, a tile bufferconfigured to store rendered fragment data locally to the graphics processing pipeline prior to that data being written out to an external memory, a write out stageconfigured to write data stored in the tile buffer to an external memory, and a programmable processing stage. The programmable processing stageis operable under the control of graphics program instructions to read fragment data stored in the tile bufferon a random access basis, perform a processing operation using the read fragment data, and write the result of the processing operation into the tile bufferor to an external memory.

Graphics processing systems

Each block of texture data elements is encoded as a block of texture data. The encoding process includes determining for each block of texture data elements whether the set of texture data elements of the block all have sufficiently similar data values. If they do, the extent of a region within the texture including the block in which every texture data element has sufficiently similar data values is then determined, and an encoded texture data block to represent the block of texture data elements that indicates that the block specifies a region within the texture in which every texture data element is to be allocated the same data value when decoded, and that includes data indicating the constant data value for the block and data indicating the extent of the region within the texture that the block relates to, is generated.

Method of and apparatus for encoding and decoding data

A texture map for use in graphics processing is encoded by first subdividing the texture map into a plurality of texture element blocks. The texture data elements in each texel block to be encoded are then divided into different partitions (sub sets) within the block. The partitioned block is then encoded in a compressed form as an encoded texture data block. Each encoded block is partitioned using a partitioning pattern generation function to generate the partitioning patterns. The partitioning pattern generation function sorts the texture data elements of the block into respective partitions based on their respective positions within the block. To do this the partitioning pattern generation function generates a series of sawtooth waves at various angles, phases and frequencies across the block of texture data elements to be encoded.

When encoding a texture mapfor use in graphics processing, the texture map is divided into a plurality of equal-sized blocksof texture data elements. Each blockof texture data elements is then encoded as a block of texture datathat includes a set of integer values to be used to generate a set of base data values for the block, and a set of index values indicating how to use the base data values to generate data values for the texture data elements that the block represents. The integer values and the index values are both encoded in an encoded texture data block using a combination of base-n values, where n is greater than two, and base-2 values. Predefined bit representations are used to represent plural base-n values (n&#x3e;2) collectively, and the bits of the bit representations representing the base-n values (n&#x3e;2) are interleaved with bits representing the base-2 values in the encoded texture data block.

Each block of texture data elements is encoded as a block of texture data that includes: data indicating how to generate a set of data values to be used to generate data values for a set of the texture data elements that the block represents; data indicating a set of integer values to be used to generate the set of data values to be used to generate data values for a set of the texture data elements that the block represents; data indicating a set of index values indicating how to use the generated set of data values to generate data values for texture data elements of the set of texture data elements that the generated set of data values is to be used for; and data indicating the indexing scheme that has been used for the block.

Each block of texture data elements is encoded as a block of texture data that includes a set of integer values to be used to generate a set of base data values for the block, and a set of index values indicating how to use the base data values to generate data values for the texture data elements that the block represents. The integer values and the index values are both encoded in an encoded texture data block using a combination of base-n values, where n is greater than two, and base-2 values. Predefined bit representations are used to represent plural base-n values (n&#x3e;2) collectively, and the bits of the bit representations representing the base-n values are interleaved with bits representing the base-2 values in the encoded texture data block.

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Trondheim, Norway

Anders Lassen