The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 07, 2025
Filed:
Jan. 16, 2024
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Brent E. Insko, Portland, OR (US);
Prasoonkumar Surti, Folsom, CA (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method are described for performing an early depth test on graphics data. For example, one embodiment of a graphics processing apparatus comprises: early depth test circuitry to perform an early depth test on blocks of pixels to determine whether all pixels in the block of pixels can be resolved by the early depth test; a plurality of execution circuits to execute pixel shading operations on the blocks of pixels; and a scheduler circuit to schedule the blocks of pixels for the pixel shading operations, the scheduler circuit to prioritize the blocks of pixels in accordance with the determination as to whether all pixels in the block of pixels can be resolved by the early depth test.