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:
Apr. 22, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 20, 2000
Ralph Clayton Taylor, Deland, FL (US);
Michael Andrew Mang, Ovledo, FL (US);
ATI International, SRL, Christchurch, BB;
Abstract
A configurable vertex blending circuit that allows both morphing and skinning operations to be supported in dedicated hardware is presented. Such a configurable vertex blending circuit includes a matrix array that is used for storing the matrices associated with the various portions of the vertex blending operations. Vertex data that is received is stored in an input vertex buffer that includes multiple position buffers such that the multiple positions associated with morphing operations can be stored. Similarly, the single position typically associated with skinning operations can be stored in one of the position buffers. The input vertex buffer further stores blending weights associated with the various component operations that are included in the overall vertex blending operation. An arithmetic unit, which is configured and controlled by a transform controller, performs the calculations required for each of a plurality of component operations included in the overall vertex blending operation. The results of each of these component operations are then combined to produce a blended vertex.