Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Richard W Russell

Martin Regen

James Charles Finger, Ii

Andrew Douglas Reddish

Rajasekaran Rangarajan

Joel B Deaquero

Software interfaces are configured to enable functionality that is commonly implemented in special-purpose hardware for mixing AV content into a set of 2.5-D graphics planes to be exposed to high level processes executing in a computing environment in a fully portable manner. Illustratively, the interfaces include a planar mixer (named 'IPlanarMixer') that abstracts the mixing hardware, and a graphics plane interface (named 'IPlane') that abstracts individual instances of planes that are retrieved from, and handed off to the planar mixer as the 2.5-D graphics planes are built up and rendered in a computing environment to support interactive graphic experiences for a user.

Time-synchronized graphics composition in a 2.5-dimensional user interface environment

APIs discussed herein promote efficient and timely interoperability between hardware and software components within the media processing pipelines of media content players. A PhysMemDataStructure API facilitates a hardware component's direct access to information within a memory used by a software component, to enable the hardware component to use direct memory access techniques to obtain the contents of the memory, instead of using processor cycles to execute copy commands. The PhysMemDataStructure API exposes one or more fields of data structures associated with units of media content stored in a memory used by a software component, and the exposed fields store information about the physical properties of the memory locations of the units of media content. SyncHelper APIs are used for obtaining information from, and passing information to, hardware components, which information is used to adjust the hardware components' timing for preparing media samples of synchronously-presentable media content streams.

Growing community of inventors

Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Richard W Russell