JP2011529236A - Partition-based performance analysis for graphics imaging - Google Patents

Abstract

In general, this disclosure relates to techniques for providing a visual representation of a graphical scene that includes several different graphical partitions. It may allow the user to identify portions of the graphics scene that exhibit degraded performance due to the costs associated with screen splitting. One exemplary device includes a display device and one or more processors. The one or more processors are partitions that display one or more graphics images on the display device in a graphical scene, overlay the one or more graphics images, and graphically divide the scene To display on the display device and determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. And configured to analyze the graphics data.

Description

(Claiming priority under 35 USC §119)
This patent application is filed July 25, 2008, is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and is a US provisional application entitled “PARTITIONING-BASED PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS FOR GRAPHICS IMAGING”, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Claim the priority of 61 / 083,659.

(Reference to concurrent patent applications)
This patent application is related to the following concurrent US patent applications:
US patent application Ser. No. 61 / 083,656 (Attorney Docket No. 080967P1) filed Jul. 25, 2008, filed concurrently with this, assigned to the assignee of the present application and expressly incorporated herein by reference. );as well as
US Patent Application No. 61 / 083,665 (Attorney Docket No. 080971P1), filed July 25, 2008, filed concurrently therewith, assigned to the assignee of the present application, and expressly incorporated herein by reference. ).

(Technical field)
This disclosure relates to the display of graphics images.

  Graphics processors are used for various applications such as video games, graphics programs, computer design (CAD) applications, simulation and visualization tools, and imaging, for example, two-dimensional images (2D) and tertiary. Widely used to render original images (3D). The display processor may be used to display the rendered output of the graphics processor for presentation to the user via the display device.

  OpenGL® (Open Graphics Library) is a standard that defines an API (Application Programming Interface) that may be used when writing applications that generate 2D and 3D graphics. It is a typical specification. Other languages, such as Java, for example, may define bindings to the OpenGL API through their own standard process. The interface includes a plurality of function calls or instructions that can be used to draw the scene from simple primitives. Even graphics processors, multimedia processors, and even general purpose CPUs can execute applications that are written using OpenGL function calls. OpenGL ES (Embedded System) is a variant of OpenGL designed for embedded devices such as mobile radiotelephones, digital multimedia players, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or video game consoles. is there.

  A graphics application (eg, a 3D graphics application) may describe or define the contents of a scene by invoking APIs or instructions. The APIs or instructions use underlying graphics hardware (eg, one or more processors in the graphics device) to generate the image. Graphics hardware may go through a series of state transitions that are performed through these APIs. The full set of states for each API call (eg, draw call or instruction) renders the image from one or more graphics primitives (eg, one or more triangles) by hardware. May describe the processes to be performed.

  In addition, binning-based or partitioning-based graphics hardware can be used to divide up an image scene displayed on a display device screen. The individual graphics primitives that are to be rendered are often implemented using a process that is clustered into multiple binning partitions or bins. The hardware may do so due to screen size or resolution constraints or due to memory limitations associated with rendering operations. A graphics primitive (which may span multiple binning partitions) may be divided into multiple fragments by hardware along the edges of the partition before the primitive fragment is rendered. The hardware may render all primitive fragments independently in each partition.

  Thus, an individual primitive (which may span two binning partitions, for example) may be split into two fragments, and each of these two fragments is rendered independently There is. However, the graphics image produced by each of these fragments must then be re-combined within a frame of image data before being displayed on the screen of the display device. Sometimes. Therefore, primitive graphics data across multiple different partitions may be processed and rendered independently, and the rendered image data is recombined to form the final image May be.

  In general, this disclosure relates to techniques for providing a visual representation of a graphical scene that includes several different graphical partitions. It may allow the user to identify portions of the graphics scene that exhibit reduced performance due to costs that can be associated with screen partitioning. A graphics device (eg, a mobile device) provides partitioning or binning information to an external computing device (eg, a personal computer) based on the number and type of partitions created by the graphics driver. May be. The graphics device may also provide graphics instructions and state information to the computing device.

  The computing device may display one or more graphics images in the graphical scene based on the graphics instructions and state information. The computing device may also display a graphical representation of the partition overlaying the scene based on the received partitioning information and provide analysis information regarding potential partitioning costs or performance overhead You may do it. Application developers may use this information to investigate alternative compositions in the scene to help reduce these costs and / or performance overhead. .

  In one aspect, a method displays a graphic image in a graphical scene and a graphical representation of a partition that overlays the graphic image and graphically divides the scene. And determining which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. Including analyzing the data.

  In one aspect, the device includes a display device and one or more processors. The one or more processors display one or more graphics images on the display device in a graphical scene, overlay the one or more graphics images, and partition the scene graphically To display on the display device and determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. And is configured to analyze the graphics data.

  In one aspect, a computer-readable medium causes one or more processors to display one or more graphics images in a graphical scene and overlays the one or more graphics images and the scene. Display a graphical representation of the partition that graphically divides the image and determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions For that purpose, it includes computer-executable instructions for causing the graphics data to be analyzed.

  The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the software may be executed by a processor. The processor may be one or more processors (eg, a microprocessor), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or digital signal processor (DSP), or other equivalent integrated. Alternatively, individual logic circuits may be indicated. Software containing instructions for performing the techniques may be initially stored and loaded on a computer readable medium and executed by a processor.

  Accordingly, this disclosure also contemplates computer-readable media containing instructions that cause a processor to perform any of the various techniques described in this disclosure. In some cases, computer readable media may form part of a computer program product that may be sold to a manufacturer and / or used in a device. The computer program product may include a computer readable medium and, in some cases, may also include packaging material.

  The details of one or more aspects are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a graphics device that may provide graphics instructions, state and / or performance information and partitioning information to an application computing device in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating certain details of the graphics processing system, graphics driver, and application computer device shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating further details of operations that may be performed by the control processor, graphics processor, vertex processor, and display processor shown in FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating further details of the graphics driver shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 5A is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first example of graphics data that may span four partitions of a screen area provided by a display device, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating the graphics data of the first example of FIG. 5A that is split along partition boundaries. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a second example of graphics data that may span eight partitions of a screen area provided by a display device, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a first method that may be performed by the application computing device shown in FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a second method that may be performed by the application computing device shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a graphics device connected to a display device for displaying information in a graphics window in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another example of a graphics device connected to a display device that displays information in a graphical window in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure.

Detailed description

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a graphics device 2 that may provide graphics instructions 30, state and / or performance information 32, and partitioning information 33 to an application computing device 20 in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. It is. Graphics device 2 may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger system. For example, the graphics device 2 may form part of a wireless communication device (eg, a wireless mobile handset), or a digital camera, video camera, digital multimedia player, portable information It may be part of a terminal (PDA), video game console, other video device or dedicated viewing station (eg, television). Graphics device 2 may also include a personal computer or laptop device. The graphics device 2 may be included in one or more integrated circuits, chips or chip sets that may be used in some or all of the devices described above.

  In some cases, graphics device 2 may be capable of running various applications (eg, graphics application, video application, audio application, and / or other multimedia application). For example, the graphics device 2 may be a graphics application, a video game application, a video playback application, a digital camera application, an instant messaging application, a video teleconferencing application, a mobile application, or a video streaming application. May be used for.

  Graphics device 2 may be able to handle a variety of different data types and formats. For example, the graphics device 2 may process still image data, video (video) data, or other multimedia data, as will be described in more detail below. The image data may include computer graphic data. In the example of FIG. 1, the graphics device 2 includes a graphics processing system 4, a storage medium 8 (which may include memory) and a display device 6. Programmable processors 10, 12, 14 and 16 may be included in the graphics processing system 4. The programmable processor 10 is a control or general purpose processor. Programmable processor 12 is a graphics processor, programmable processor 14 is a vertex processor, and programmable processor 16 is a display processor. The control processor 10 may be able to control the graphics processor 12, the vertex processor 14 and / or the display processor 16. In one embodiment, graphics processing system 4 may include other forms of multimedia processors.

  In the graphics device 2, the graphics processing system 4 is connected to the storage medium 8 and to the display device 6. The storage medium 8 is, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read only memory (ROM), nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM), static random access memory (SRAM) or flash. It may include any permanent or volatile memory that can store instructions and / or data, such as a memory. The display device 6 may be any device capable of displaying image data for display purposes, such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), plasma display device or other television (TV) display device. .

  The vertex processor 14 manages vertex information and can process vertex transformations. In one aspect, vertex processor 14 may include a digital signal processor (DSP). Graphics processor 12 may be a dedicated graphics rendering device that is utilized to render, manipulate, and display computerized graphics. Graphics processor 12 may implement various complex graphics related algorithms. For example, complex algorithms may correspond to representations of 2D or 3D computerized graphics. The graphics processor 12 may perform several so-called “primitive” graphics operations (eg, points, lines and triangles or the like) to create a complex three-dimensional image on a display (eg, display device 6). Another polygon surface formation) may be implemented.

  The graphics processor 12 may execute instructions stored in the storage medium 8. The storage medium 8 can store application instructions 21 relating to applications (eg, graphics or video applications) as well as one or more graphics drivers 18. Application instructions 21 may be loaded from the storage medium 8 into the graphics processing system 4 for execution. For example, one or more of the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16 may execute the instruction 21. In one aspect, the application instructions 21 may include one or more downloadable modules that are dynamically downloaded to the storage medium 8 dynamically. In one aspect, application instructions 21 may include a binary instruction call stream that is generated or compiled from application programming interface (API) instructions created by an application developer.

  The graphics driver 18 may also be loaded from the storage medium 8 into the graphics processing system 4 for execution. For example, one or more of the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16 may execute specific instructions from the graphics driver 18. In one exemplary embodiment, graphics driver 18 is loaded and executed by graphics processor 12. Graphics driver 18 is described in further detail below.

  The storage medium 8 also includes graphics data mapping information 23. The graphics data mapping information 23 includes information that maps one or more of the application instructions 21 to graphics data that can be rendered during execution of the application instructions 21. The graphics data (which may be stored in storage medium 8 and / or buffer 15) may include one or more primitives (eg, polygons). Graphics data mapping information 23 may maintain a mapping of individual primitives to be rendered for individual instructions. After the primitive is rendered, the mapping information 23 is the original primitive graphics used to create one or more images that are ultimately displayed on the graphics device 6 from the individual instructions. Allows mapping to data. The mapping information 23 may be useful for debugging and / or performance analysis in some cases.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the graphics processing system 4 includes one or a plurality of buffers 15. Control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14 and / or display processor 16 each have access to buffer 15 and store data in buffer 15 or retrieve data from buffer 15. Also good. The buffer 15 may include a cache memory, and may be capable of storing both data and instructions. For example, the buffer 15 may include one or more of the application instructions 21 or one or more instructions from the graphics driver 18 loaded from the storage medium 8 into the graphics processing system 4. Buffer 15 and / or storage medium 8 may also include graphics data that is used during execution of instructions.

  Application instructions 21 may include instructions for graphics applications (eg, 3D graphics applications) in certain cases. Application instructions 21 may include instructions that describe or define the contents of a graphics scene that includes one or more graphics images. When the application instruction 21 is loaded and executed by the graphics processing system 4, the graphics processing system 4 may go through a series of state transitions. One or more instructions in the graphics driver 18 may also be executed to render or display a graphics image on the display device 6 during execution of the application instructions 21.

  For example, a full set of states for instructions such as draw calls may describe the process by which an image is rendered by the graphics processing system 4. However, the application developer who wrote the application instructions 21 can interactively view these states for debugging or experimental purposes with alternative methods to describe or render an image in a defined scene. Or the ability to modify is often limited. Further, different hardware platforms may have different hardware designs and implementations of these states and / or state transitions.

  Further, binning-based graphics hardware (eg, one or more of processors 10, 12, 14, and 16) may be used to divide the scene of the image displayed on the screen of display device 6. Individual primitives that are to be rendered may often be implemented using a process that is clustered into rectangular-shaped binning partitions or bins. The hardware may do so based on the screen size or resolution constraints of the display device 6 or based on the memory limitations of the storage medium 8 associated with the rendering of the operation. Primitives that can span multiple binning partitions are split into multiple fragments by one or more of processors 10, 12, 14, or 16 along the edge of the partition before the primitive fragments are rendered. Also good. The primitive fragments in each partition may then be rendered separately. In general, the binning partition may vary in aggregate depending on the hardware architecture, and may have various sizes and shapes. For example, the binning partition may include a plurality (eg, four, eight) rectangular partitions.

  Thus, for example, an individual primitive that may span two binning partitions may be divided into two fragments, and each of these two fragments may then be rendered independently. However, the graphics image produced by each of these fragments may then need to be recombined within a frame of image data before being displayed on the screen of the display device 6. Therefore, splitting individual primitives across multiple binning partitions can have potential processing overhead and can cause overall performance degradation.

  In one aspect, an application developer may use an application computing device 20 as shown in FIG. 1 to assist in debugging and experimentation with alternative methods for describing or rendering an image in a scene. May be used. The application computing device 20 may be able to display the scene and overlay a graphical representation of the binning partition that may be implemented by the graphics device 2. The application computer device 20 is connected to the graphics device 2. For example, in one aspect, the application computer device 20 is connected to the graphics device 2 via a universal system bus (USB) connection. In other aspects, other types of connections (eg, wireless or other forms of wired connections) may be used.

  Application computer device 20 includes one or more processors 22, a display device 24, and a storage medium 26 (which may include memory). In accordance with one aspect, the processor 22 may include one or more of a control processor, a graphics processor, a vertex processor, and a display processor. The storage medium 26 includes instructions and / or instructions such as, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), static random access memory (SRAM) or flash memory). Or any fixed or volatile memory capable of storing data. Display device 24 may be any device capable of displaying image data for display purposes, such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a plasma display device or other television (TV) display device. .

  Application computer device 20 may capture and analyze graphics instructions 30 along with state and / or performance information 32 transmitted from graphics device 2. In one aspect, the graphics driver 18 is configured to send graphics instructions 30 and state / performance information 32 to the application computing device 20. Graphics instructions 30 may include one or more of application instructions 21, and state / performance information 32 may be generated or supplemented during execution of graphics instructions 30 within graphics processing system 4. good.

  The state / performance information 32 may include information regarding the state and / or performance of the graphics processing system 4 during execution of instructions, which will be described in further detail below. State / performance information 32 may also include graphics data (eg, primitive and / or rasterized graphics data) that may be used in graphics instructions 30 or otherwise associated with graphics instructions 30. good. Graphics processing system 4 may execute graphics instructions 30 to display an image or a scene composed of a plurality of images on display device 6. Application computer device 20, along with state / performance information 32, graphics to re-create a graphics image or scene that is also displayed on display device 6 of graphics device 2. Instruction 30 can be used.

  Graphics device 2 may also send mapping and / or partitioning information 33 to application computer device 20. In one aspect, the graphics driver 18 is configured to send the mapping / partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20. Mapping / partitioning information 33 may include one or more portions of graphics data mapping information 23 (which includes information that maps graphics data to individual instructions within graphics instruction 30). For example, the mapping / partitioning information 33 may include information that maps one or more primitives (eg, polygons) to individual instructions within the graphics instruction 30.

  The mapping / partitioning information 33 may also include partitioning information generated and provided by the graphics device 2. This partitioning information may optionally be generated and provided by one or more of the processors 10, 12, 14, and 16 (eg, the control processor 10). The partitioning information may be used within the graphics processing system 4 to render graphics data in one or more graphics images and display such images on the display device 6. Information that identifies the number, type, size and / or shape of the partition or bin may be included. As previously described, the graphics device 2 may reduce the screen space or size of the display device 6 based on, for example, the buffer 15 and / or memory size limitations of the storage medium 8 during the rendering of the operation. It may be divided into partitions. Partitioning information provides information about the partitions that are created and used. Figures 5 and 6 represent examples of such partitions.

  The simulation application 28 recreates the graphics image or scene in response to receiving the graphics instructions 30 and the state / performance information 32 and displays the image or scene composed of multiple images on the display device 24. In order to do so, it may be executed by one or more processors 22 of the application computing device 20. The simulation application 28 may include a software module that includes several application instructions. The simulation application 28 is stored in the storage medium 26 and may be loaded and executed by the processor 22. The simulation application 28 may be preloaded on the storage medium 26 and may be customized to operate on the graphics device 2.

  In one embodiment, the simulation application 28 simulates the hardware operation of the graphics device 2. Different versions of the simulation application 28 may be stored on the storage medium 26 and executed by the processor 22 for different graphics devices having different hardware designs. In some cases, a software library used with the simulation application 28 may be stored in the storage medium 26. In one aspect, the simulation application 28 may be a general application, and specific hardware or graphics device simulation functionality may be linked to the simulation application 28 during execution. It may be contained in a separate library.

  In one aspect, a visual representation of the state / performance information 32 may be displayed to the application developer on the display device 2. Furthermore, a visual representation of the graphics instruction 30 may be displayed as well.

  In many cases, graphics instructions 30 may include binary instructions, so application computing device 20 may use instruction mapping information 31 to generate a visual representation of graphics instructions 30 on display device 24. May be used. Instruction mapping information 31 is stored in the storage medium 26 and may be loaded into the processor 22 to display a visual representation of the graphics instructions 30.

  In one aspect, the instruction mapping information 31 is used to map the graphics instruction 30 to a corresponding API instruction that may have been previously compiled when generating the graphics instruction 30, for example, in a search table. Mapping information may also be included. An application developer may write a program that uses API instructions, but these API instructions are typically used for execution on the graphics device 2, for example, graphics instructions 30 (which are application Is compiled into a binary instruction such as contained within instruction 21). One or more instructions within graphics instruction 30 may be mapped to individual API instructions. The mapped API instruction may then be displayed to the application developer on the display device 24 to provide a visual representation of the graphics instruction 30 that is actually being executed.

  In one aspect, a user (eg, an application developer) may desire to change one or more of the graphics instructions 30, for example, to determine the effect of such a performance change. In this aspect, the user may change the visual representation of the graphics instruction 30. The mapping information 31 is then in a visual representation of the graphics instruction 30 into a binary instruction that can be provided to the graphics device 2 in the requested modification 34, as described in more detail below. Used to map these changes.

  As described above, the graphics image displayed on the display device 24 of the application computer device 20 may be a representation of the image displayed on the graphics device 2. The simulation application 28 may use the graphics instructions 30 and the state / performance information 32 to accurately recreate the image or scene when the image is presented on the graphics device 2. Thus, an application developer using the application computing device 20 may have a potential performance issue or bottleneck during execution of the graphics application 30 and the overall graphics application 30. Even prototype modifications that improve performance can be identified quickly.

  For example, the application developer may use graphics instructions 30 and / or state / performance information 32 during execution of the simulation application 28 on the application computing device 20 and display of the recreated image on the display device 24. One may choose to make one or more required modifications 34 to it. During execution of graphics instructions 30 or analysis of state / performance information 32, such requested modifications 34 may be based on observed performance issues or bottlenecks. These requested modifications 34 may then be sent from the application computer device 20 to the graphics device 2. There, they are processed by the graphics processing system 4. In one aspect, one or more of the graphics drivers 18 are executed in the graphics processing system 4 to process the requested modifications 34. The requested modification 34 may optionally include a modified instruction. In some cases, the requested modification may include modified state and / or performance information.

  In response to processing of the requested modification 34, updated instructions and / or information 35 are transmitted to the application computing device 20 (eg, by one or more of the graphics drivers 18). The updated instructions / information 35 may include updated graphics instructions for execution based on the requested modifications 34 processed by the graphics device 2. The updated instructions / information 35 may also include updated state and / or performance information based on the requested modifications 34 processed by the graphics device 2.

  The updated instructions / information 35 is for updating the display of the recreated image information on the display device 24 and for providing a visual representation of the updated instructions / information 35 to the application developer. Processed by the simulation application 28 (which may include using the instruction mapping information 31 again). The application developer then browses the updated image information on the display device 24 as well as a visual representation of the updated instruction / information 35 to determine whether the performance issue has been resolved or mitigated. Also good. Application developers may use an iterative process to debug graphics instructions 30 or prototype modifications to improve overall performance graphics application 30.

  In one aspect, the application computing device 20 uses the mapping / partitioning information 23 to display a visual graphical representation of a partition that overlays a graphics image displayed on the display device 24. These partitions graphically divide the scene containing these images on the display device 24. For example, the simulation application 28 processes the mapping / partitioning information 33 to create a graphical representation of these partitions (eg, a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions) on the screen of the display device 24. -Module 27 may be used.

  The partitioning module 27 may be loaded from the storage medium 26 and executed by the processor 22. When executed, the partitioning module 27 also executes graphics for one or more graphics images to determine which portion of the graphics data is associated with more than one of the partitions. Data (which may be included in the state / performance information 32) may be analyzed. For example, the partitioning module 27 may create a graphics image for display on the display device 24 and any of these polygons as described in more detail below. One or more polygons used to determine whether they can span multiple partitions may be analyzed.

  The storage medium 26 further includes a navigation module 29. The navigation module 29 may also be executed by the processor 22. The simulation application 28 may use the navigation module 29 to display the navigation controller on the display device during execution. A user (eg, an application developer) may interact with this navigation controller to view a modified perspective view of the graphics image in the scene displayed on the display device 24. The partitioning module 27 may then display a graphical representation of the partition overlaying the modified perspective view of the graphics image to graphically divide the modified scene. Partitioning module 27 is then also used to create a graphics image in the modified perspective view to determine which of the multiple polygons can span multiple partitions. One or more polygons may be analyzed.

  In accordance with one aspect, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating certain details of the graphics processing system 4, the graphics driver 18, and the application computer device 20 shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. . In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the application computer device 20 is connected to the graphics processing system 4 of device 2. However, this is shown for illustrative purposes only. In other scenarios, the application computing device 20 may be connected to many other forms of graphics processing systems and devices.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the graphics processing system 4 includes four programmable processors: a control processor 10, a vertex processor 14, a graphics processor 12, and a display processor 16. They are also shown in FIG. Control processor 10 may control any of vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, or display processor 16. In many cases, these processors 10, 12, 14 and 16 may be part of a graphics processing pipeline within system 4.

  The control processor 10 may also control one or more aspects of the flow of data or instruction execution through the pipeline and may also provide geometric information regarding the graphics image to the vertex processor 14. The vertex processor 14 may manage vertex transformation or geometry processing of the graphics image. It may be described or defined according to multiple vertices in a primitive geometry form. Vertex processor 14 may provide its output to graphics processor 12. Graphics processor 12 may perform rendering or rasterization operations on the graphics image. Graphics processor 12 may provide its output to display processor 16. Display processor 16 prepares the graphics image in pixel form for display. Graphics processor 12 may also perform various operations (eg, shading or scaling) on the pixel data.

  Often, graphics image data may be processed in this processing pipeline during execution of graphics instructions 30. Graphics instruction 30 may be part of application instruction 21 (FIG. 1). As a result, graphics instruction 30 may be executed by one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16. Application developers generally do not need much knowledge or control over which particular processor in graphics processing system 4 executes which of graphics instructions 30.

  In some cases, one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12 and display processor 16 may have a performance issue during execution of graphics instructions 30, or It can serve as a potential bottleneck in the processing pipeline. In these cases, the overall performance within the graphics processing system 4 may be degraded and the application developer may wish to make changes to the graphics instructions 30 to improve performance. is there. However, the developer does not necessarily know which processor 10, 12, 14 or 16 may have a performance issue. These performance issues are related to, for example, usage or utilization of the processor for one or more of the control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12 and display processor 16. May be included.

  In particular, binning-based operations, where primitive graphics data is split across multiple binning partitions prior to rendering, can often create a specific performance issue. For example, if a polygon (eg, the triangle 146 shown in the example of FIG. 5A) spans two different partitions (eg, partitions 136 and 138 shown in FIG. 5A), the polygon will be two constituent fragments. These two constituent fragments (eg, fragments 146A and 146B shown in FIG. 5B) are rendered independently into separate graphics images that contain pixel data (one for each partition). Can be done. These two independent graphics images may then need to be combined before display to create a visual representation of triangle 146. Independent rendering operations for the two fragments of triangle 146 may cause performance overhead, as well as a combining operation for the two related graphics images.

  To assist in the problem of identifying performance bottlenecks and potential solutions, the graphics driver 18A of the graphics device 2, as shown in FIG. May be captured or collected, and may be sent to the application computing device 20. The graphics driver 18A is a part of the graphics driver 18 shown in FIG. Graphics driver 18 A may be loaded and executed by one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16. Further, graphics driver 18A may also collect state and / or performance information 32 from one or more of control processor 10, vector processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16, and similarly The information 32 may be sent to the application computer device 20. In one aspect, graphics driver 18A may include an OpenGL ES driver when graphics instructions 30 include binary instructions that may have been generated or compiled from OpenGL ES API instructions.

  Various forms of state data may be included in the state / performance information 32. For example, the state data may include graphics data that is used during execution of the graphics instructions 30 or otherwise associated with the graphics instructions 30. The state data may relate to vertex arrays (eg, position, color, coordinates, size or weight data). State data includes texture state data, point state data, line state data, polygon state data, culling state data, Further includes alpha test state data, blending state data, depth state data, stencil state data, or color state data But it ’s okay. As previously described, the state data may include both state information and actual data. In some cases, the state data may include data associated with one or more OpenGL tokens.

  Various forms of performance data may also be included in the state / performance information 32. In general, this performance data may include metric or hardware counter data from one or more of the control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16. The performance data may include frame rate or cycle data. Cycle data may include data relating to cycles used for profiling, instruction array, vertex and index data, or other operations. In various aspects, various forms of state and performance data may be included in the state / performance information 32 collected from the graphics processing system 4 by the graphics driver 18A.

  As previously described, application computer device 20 may display a representation of a graphics image in accordance with received graphics instructions 30 and state / performance information 32. Application computer device 20 may also display a visual representation of state / performance information 32. By viewing and interacting with the recreated graphics image and / or visual representation of the state / performance information 32, the application developer can execute the graphics processing system 4 of the graphics device 2 during execution of the graphics instructions 30. It is possible to quickly identify and resolve performance issues within. For example, an application developer may be able to identify which particular multiple of processors 10, 12, 14, and / or 16 may have a performance issue.

  In addition, the graphics driver 18A also provides mapping and / or partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20. As previously described with reference to FIG. 1, the partitioning module 27 is a graphical representation of partitions on the display device 24 that overlays graphics images in the scene to graphically divide the scene. The received mapping / partitioning information 33 may be processed to display. The partitioning module 27 may also be included in the graphics data (which may be included in the state / performance information 32) to determine which portion of the data is associated with more than one of the partitions. ) May be used to analyze the mapping / partitioning information 33. The mapping / partitioning information 33 is mapping information that maps graphics data (which may be used to generate one or more graphics images) to the identified instruction in the graphics instruction 30. May be included.

  In an attempt to identify a workaround or solution for any identified performance issue, the developer may initiate one or more requested modifications 34 on the application computing device 20. For example, the developer may interact with the recreated image or representation of the state / performance information 32 to create the requested modification 34. In some cases, the developer may even change the state / performance information 32 directly, as described in more detail below, to generate the required modifications 34. In certain cases, the requested modification 34 is one or more requests that invalidate execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 in the graphics processing system 4 of the graphics device 2, or 1 or A request to modify a plurality of graphics instructions 30 may be included.

  In some cases, the user may interact with a navigation controller displayed on display device 24 to request that a modified perspective view of the graphics scene be displayed. The navigation module 29 may manage the display of the navigation controller and the interaction with the navigation controller. Any request entered by the user via the user interface may be included with the requested modification 34. These requests can be, for example, requests to rotate one or more graphics images in the scene, requests to zoom in, requests to zoom out, or other similar requests to change the perspective view of an image in the scene. May be included.

  The requested modification 34 is transmitted from the application computer device 20 to the graphics driver 18A. Graphics driver 18A processes requests for graphics device 2 during operation. In many cases, the requested modification 34 may include a request to modify state information. The state information may include data in one or more of the processors 10, 12, 14 or 16 in the graphics processing system 4 during the execution of the graphics instructions 30. The graphics driver 18A may then perform changes to the graphics processing system 4 included within the requested modification 34. These changes may change the flow of execution between the processors 10, 12, 14, and / or 16 for execution of the graphics instructions 30. In certain cases, one or more of the graphics instructions 30 may be invalidated during execution in the graphics processing system 4 in accordance with the requested modification 34.

  Graphics driver 18A may send updated instructions and / or information 35 to application computing device 20 in response to the requested modification 34 processing. The updated instruction / information 35 may include updated state information collected from the graphics processing system 4 by the graphics driver 18A, including performance information. The updated instruction / information 3 may include updated graphics instructions and / or graphics data.

  The application computing device 20 may use the updated instruction / information 35 to display an updated representation of the graphics image as well as a visual representation of the updated instruction / information 35. . The application developer may then be able to determine whether the previously identified performance issue has been resolved or otherwise addressed. For example, the application developer can determine whether a particular texture, polygon or other feature has been optimized or other performance parameters have been improved, as well as a visual representation of the updated instruction / information 35, It may be possible to analyze the updated image.

  The updated instruction / information 35 may also include updated mapping and / or partitioning information (eg, an updated mapping of graphics data to instructions that are also included in the instruction / information 35). . If an updated perspective view of the scene is displayed on the display device 24 as a result of the updated instructions / information 35, the partitioning module 27 overlays the modified perspective view and the modified scene. You may display a graphical representation of a partition that divides the database graphically. Partitioning module 27 may also modify a modified perspective view (which may also include updated instructions / information 35) to determine which portions of graphics data are associated with more than one of the partitions. Graphics data may be analyzed). The partition may be determined based on a rendering of operations performed on the graphics data.

  In such a manner, the application developer can quickly and effectively execute the graphics instructions 30 within the environment on the application computer device 20 that simulates the operation of the graphics processing system 4 on the graphics device 2. It may be possible to debug or analyze automatically. Developers can view displayed images on application computer device 20 to analyze multiple graphics images in a scene or multiple image frames to maximize the execution performance of graphics instructions 30. And may interact repeatedly with state / performance information. Examples of such interaction and displayed information on the application computing device 20 are presented in more detail below.

  FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating further details of operations that may be performed by the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14, and display processor 16, according to one aspect. FIG. 3 also illustrates operations relating to the frame buffer storage 100 and the display 102. In one aspect, control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12 and / or display processor 16 perform various operations as a result of the execution of one or more of graphics instructions 30.

  As previously described, the control processor 10 may control one or more aspects of the flow of data or instruction execution through the graphics processing pipeline and further provide geometry information to the vertex processor 14. Also good. As shown in FIG. 3, the control processor 10 may perform geometry storage at 90. In some cases, geometry information for one or more primitives may be stored by the control processor 10 in the buffer 15 (FIG. 1). In some cases, the geometry information may be stored in the storage medium 8.

  Vertex processor 14 may then obtain, at 92, geometry information for a given primitive provided by the control processor and / or stored in buffer 15 for processing. In certain cases, vertex processor 14 may manage the vertex transformation of geometry information. In certain cases, vertex processor 14 may perform lighting operations on the geometry information.

  Vertex processor 14 may provide its output to graphics processor 12. Graphics processor 12 may then perform a rendering or rasterization operation on the data at 94. Graphics processor 12 may provide its output to display processor 16. The display processor 16 then prepares one or more graphics images in pixel form for display. In some cases, graphics processor 12 may split the graphics data for geometry (eg, one or more polygons) based on the determined binning partition. As previously described, one or more of the processors in graphics device 2 (eg, graphics processor 12) may vary depending on display 102 based on specific factors (eg, memory requirements or limitations). Multiple binning partitions associated with the screen area may be created. If a particular geometry (eg, triangle) spans multiple partitions, the graphics processor may split the geometry into multiple fragments along the partition boundary and generate each fragment independently. In some cases, graphics processor 12 may provide mapping / partitioning information 33 to application computer device 20 based on the determined number, type, size, shape, etc. of the partition. .

  Display processor 16 may perform various operations on pixel data at 98, including fragment processing to process various fragments of data. In certain cases, this may include one or more of depth testing, stencil testing, blending, or texture mapping, as is known in the art. If graphics processor 12 previously rendered multiple geometric fragments, fragment processing 98 of display processor 16 may then combine the rendered multiple fragments for storage in the frame buffer. good. When performing texture mapping, display processor 16 may incorporate texture storage and filtering information at 96. In some cases, graphics processor 16 may perform other operations on the rasterized data (eg, shading or scaling operations).

  Display processor 16 provides output pixel information at 100 for storage in the frame buffer. In some cases, the frame buffer may be included in buffer 15 (FIG. 1). In other cases, the frame buffer may be included in the storage medium 8. The frame buffer stores one or more frames of image data. It can then be displayed at 102, such as on display device 6.

  As previously described, graphics instruction 30 may be executed by one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16. Application developers generally do not have much knowledge or control of which particular processor in graphics processing system 4 will execute which of the graphics instructions 30. good. In certain cases, one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12 and display processor 16 may have a performance issue during execution of graphics instructions 30, or , Potentially serving as a potential bottleneck in the processing pipeline.

  It can often be difficult for an application developer to pinpoint the location of a bottleneck or the best way to resolve or mitigate the effects of such a bottleneck. Thus, in one aspect, graphics instructions 30 and / or state information may be provided from graphics device 2 to an external computing device (eg, application computing device 20). The state information is among the control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16 for various operations that occur during execution of the graphics instructions 30 (such as those shown in FIG. 3). Data from one or more of the above may be included. Application computer device 20 may create the graphics image shown on device 2 to assist in identifying and resolving bottlenecks in an efficient and effective manner. The application computing device 20 also displays partitioning information and graphics for one or more geometries to determine which part of the data is associated with more than one of the partitions. -Data may be analyzed.

  In accordance with one aspect, FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating further details of the graphics driver 18A shown in FIG. 2 according to one aspect of the present disclosure. As previously described, graphics driver 18A is within graphics processing system 4 (eg, by one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16). It may include instructions that can be executed and may be part of the graphics driver 18. Execution of graphics driver 18A enables graphics processing system 4 to communicate with application computer device 20. In one aspect, the graphics driver 18A may include instructions that can be executed within the graphics processing system 54 and may be part of the graphics driver 68.

  The graphics driver 18A includes various functional blocks when executed. The various functional blocks include a transfer interface 110, a processor usage module 112, a hardware counter module 114, a state / performance data module 116 capable of managing other state and / or performance data, an API trace module. A module 118 and an override module 120 are shown in FIG. Graphics driver 18A uses transfer interface module 110 to communicate with application computer device 20.

  The processor usage module 112 collects and maintains processor usage information for one or more of the control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16. The processor usage information may include processor cycle and / or performance information. Cycle data may include profiling, instruction array, vertex and index data, or data relating to clock cycles used for other operations. The processor usage module 112 may then provide such processor usage information to the application computing device 20 via the transfer interface module 110. In some cases, the processor usage module 112 provides the information to the device 20 in an asynchronous manner while it receives this information. In other cases, processor usage module 112 may provide information in response to receiving a request from device 20.

  The hardware counter module 114 collects and maintains various hardware counters during execution of instructions by one or more of the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14 or display processor 16. . The counter may keep track of various state indicators and / or metrics for instruction execution within the graphics processing system 4. The hardware counter module 114 may provide information to the device 20 asynchronously or upon request.

  The state / performance data module 116 provides other state and / or performance data for one or more of the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14, and display processor 16 in the graphics processing system 4. Collect and maintain. For example, the state data may include graphics data in some cases. The state data may include data related to the vertex array (eg, position, color, coordinates, size or weight data). The state data may further include texture state data, point state data, line state data, polygon state data, culling state data, alpha test state data, blend state data, depth state data, stencil state data or color state data. good. Performance data may include a variety of other metrics or cycle data. The state / performance data module 116 may provide information to the device 20 asynchronously or upon request.

  The mapping / partitioning module 117 collects mapping and / or partitioning information 33 from one or more of the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14 and display processor 16, and Information may be collected from the data mapping information 23 (FIG. 1). The mapping information includes information that maps the identified portion of graphics data (which is rendered to generate a graphics image for display) to one or more of the graphics instructions 30. But it ’s good. This mapping information may be useful for mapping individual instructions to the original graphics data that was used to render the output image. Partitioning information is information that identifies the number, type, size, shape, etc. of partitions created and used in the graphics processing system 4 when splitting separate graphics data into constituent fragments prior to rendering. May be included. The mapping / partitioning module 117 may provide the mapping / partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20.

  The API trace module 118 manages the flow and / or trace of graphics instructions executed by the graphics processing system 4 and transferred to the application computing device 20 via the transfer interface module 110. As previously described, graphics device 2 provides device 20 with a copy of graphics instruction 30 (which is executed by graphics processing system 4 in its processing pipeline). The API trace module 118 manages the capture and transfer of these graphics instructions 30. The API trace module 118 also generates specific information (eg, graphics instructions 30) used in the instruction mapping information 31 (FIG. 1) that maps the graphics instructions 30 to the visual representation of the graphics instructions 30. API instructions that may have been used).

  The override module 120 allows the graphics driver 18A to change or override the execution of certain instructions within the graphics processing system 4. As previously described, the application computing device 20 may send one or more requested modifications (eg, modification 34) to the graphics device 2. In certain cases, the requested modification 34 is one or more requests that invalidate execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 in the graphics processing system 4 or one of the graphics instructions 30. Alternatively, a request for correcting a plurality may be included. In some cases, the requested modification 34 may include a request to change the state / performance information 32.

  The override module 120 may receive or process the requested modification 34. For example, override module 120 may receive a request from device 20 to modify one or more of graphics instructions 30 along with any request to modify state / performance information 32, and so on. Request is sent to the graphics processing system 4. One or more of the control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14, and display processor 16 may then process these requests and generate updated instructions / information 35. The override module 120 may then send the updated instructions / information 35 to the application computing device 20 for processing as previously described.

  In such a manner, graphics driver 18A provides an interface between graphics device 2 and application computer device 20. Graphics driver 18A may provide graphics instructions and state / performance information 32 to application computer device 20, and may receive requested modifications 34 from application computer device 20. . After processing of such requested modification 34, graphics driver 18A may provide updated instructions / information 35 to application computing device 20.

  FIG. 5A illustrates graphics that may span four partitions of a screen area 130 provided by a display device (eg, display device 6 of graphics device 2 in FIG. 1 or display device 24 of application computer device 20). -It is a conceptual diagram which shows the 1st example of data. The data shown in FIG. 5A may be displayed on the display device 6 in some cases. In one aspect, the data shown in FIG. 5A is based on state / performance information 32 received from graphics device 2 and mapping / partitioning information 33 received from graphics device 2. Graphically displayed on the display device 24 of the application computer device 20. State / performance information 32 may include graphics data for polygons (ie, geometries) 140, 142, 144 and 146, and mapping / partitioning information 33 includes partitions 132, 134, 136 and 138. May contain information about. For example, the mapping / partitioning information 33 received by the application computing device 20 may be represented by four different partitions (132, 134, 136 and 138) for the graphics device 2 when rendering graphics data. May be instructed to use.

  In the example of FIG. 5A, four binning partitions 132, 134, 136 and 138 are implemented. These partitions represent four corresponding areas in the screen area 130 that may be displayed on the display device 6 or the display device 24. As can be seen in the figures, polygons 140 and 142 are each defined by application instruction 21 (FIG. 1) to be located or exist within a completely corresponding partition. Polygon 140 is located in partition 132 and polygon 142 is located in partition 134. When rendering graphics data, graphics processor 12 may render the data in each of partitions 132, 134, 136, and 138, for example, separately and during independent rendering operations. Also good. Since polygon 140 is completely within partition 132, it may be rendered as complete geometry during the rendering operation associated with partition 132. Similarly, since polygon 142 is entirely within partition 134, it may be rendered as a complete geometry during a rendering operation associated with partition 134.

  On the other hand, polygons 144 and 146 span multiple partitions. Polygon 144 spans all four partitions 132, 134, 136 and 138, while polygon 146 spans two partitions 136 and 138. To render polygon 144, graphics processor 12 may split polygon 144 into four constituent fragments 144A, 144B, 144C, and 144D (shown in FIG. 5B). Graphics processor 12 may then render fragments 144A, 144B, 144C, and 144D independently during independent rendering operations. For example, during a rendering operation associated with partition 132, graphics processor 12 may render 144A into a fragment; during a rendering operation associated with partition 134, graphics processor 12 may fragment 144B. Graphics processor 12 may render 144C into fragments during a rendering operation associated with partition 138; and graphics during a rendering operation associated with partition 136 The processor 12 may render 144D into fragments.

  After these fragments 144A, 144B, 144C, and 144D are rendered independently, the display processor 16 uses the rendered image for each of these fragments to display an accurate graphical representation of the polygon 144. May need to be joined. These independent rendering and combining operations can cause performance overhead.

  Similarly, to render polygon 146, graphics processor 12 may split polygon 146 into two constituent fragments 146A and 146B (shown in FIG. 5B). Graphics processor 12 may then render fragments 146A and 146B independently during an independent rendering operation. For example, during a rendering operation associated with partition 138, graphics processor 12 may render 146A into a fragment, and during a rendering operation associated with partition 136, graphics processor 12 may fragment 146B. May be rendered. After these fragments 146A and 146B are rendered independently, display processor 16 may combine the rendered images for each of these fragments to display an accurate graphical representation of polygon 146. good.

  The information shown in FIGS. 5A-5B may be displayed on the display device 24 of the application computer device 20 in some cases. Application computer device 20 provides graphics instructions 30 and state / performance information to display representations (or graphics images) of polygons 140, 142, 144 and 146 within screen area 130 of display device 24. 32 may be used. Application computer device 20 also overlays graphics images and displays mapping / partitioning to display graphical representations of partitions 132, 134, 136, and 138 that graphically divide the scenes of these images. Information 33 may be used. Application computer device 20 also determines polygons 140, 142, 144, and 146 to determine which of these polygons span multiple of partitions 132, 134, 136, and / or 138. Graphics data may be analyzed.

  When the application developer views the information displayed in the window 130, the developer determines which polygons are split by hardware (since they span multiple partitions), and where such partitions are You can get an idea of where you are. When a developer defines a scene, an optimized configuration or location of specific graphics data within a graphics application (eg, an application that uses application instructions 21 (FIG. 1)). This information can be used to determine For example, in response to viewing the information shown in FIG. 5A, the developer may decide to rearrange or reconfigure polygons 144 and 146 so that polygons 144 and 146 do not span multiple partitions. You may do it.

  Since the developer is presented with a representation of the partitions overlaying the graphics image in the window 130 (these partitions are defined by the graphics device 2), the developer has a plurality of polygons 144 and 146. A better understanding of how to define, configure, or locate polygons 144 and 146 so that they do not span partitions, or so that they span only a minimal number of partitions. In some cases, the developer may determine to redefine one polygon as multiple sub-polygons so that the display processor 16 does not need to combine the polygons after rendering. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the developer may redefine polygon 146 as two independent polygons 146A and 146B in a modified version of application instruction 21. If these polygons are initially defined separately, the rendered versions of these polygons may then not need to be combined prior to display. And it can reduce performance overhead.

  FIG. 6 shows eight screen areas provided by a display device (eg, display device 6 (in graphics device 2) shown in FIG. 1 or display device 24 (in application computer device 20) shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the 2nd example of the graphics data which can be spread over two partitions. As previously described, the graphics processing system 4 of the graphics device 2 may create or use binning partitions associated with the screen area of the display device 6 of various different shapes, sizes and types. good. It may then depend on various factors (such as memory size requirements or constraints) or other performance considerations. In the second example of FIG. 6, one or more of the processors 10, 12, 14 or 16 creates eight independent partitions (rather than the four partitions shown in the examples in FIGS. 5A and 5B). And it may be determined to be used.

  Within the screen area 150, the eight partitions are partitions 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164 and 166. Each of these partitions is rectangular in shape. For illustrative purposes, if the screen area 150 is substantially the same size as the screen area 130 (FIGS. 5A and 5B), each partition shown in FIG. It is half the size of each partition shown.

  In the example of FIG. 6, application instructions 21 may be executed again to create and / or render polygons 140, 142, 144 and 146. In FIGS. 5A and 5B, when only four partitions were used, polygons 140 and 142 did not span multiple partitions. Thus, if the graphics device 2 implements only four binning partitions, these polygons do not span multiple partitions, so the graphics application containing the application instruction 21 is polygons 140 and 142. May not experience the additional performance overhead caused by the rendering of. However, as shown in FIG. 6, if graphics device 2 implements 8 binning partitions, polygons 140 and 142 each span two independent partitions (polygon 140 spans partitions 152 and 154, while , Polygon 142 spans partitions 156 and 58).

  In one aspect, graphical representations of partitions 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164 and 166 may be displayed to application developers on display device 24. Any graphical representation of such a partition overlaying a graphics image (eg, a representation of polygons 140, 142, 144 and 146) can be quite useful to the developer. Often, a developer will have little information or ideas about the number, type, shape, size, etc. of partitions created and used by any individual device (eg, graphics device 2). By being able to view a graphical representation of such a partition overlaid on a graphics image in the scene, a developer can view any graphics image or primitive graphics data, eg, multiple You might get a better idea of what you might get across your partitions, and thus have a certain rendering performance overhead. As a result, the developer may be able to redefine, reconfigure, resize or otherwise modify the graphics data generated and manipulated by the graphics application (eg, including application instructions 21).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method that may be performed by the application computing device 20 through execution of the simulation application 28 (FIG. 1), according to one aspect. Application computer device 20 may receive mapping / partitioning information 33 from an external graphics device (eg, graphics device 2) (170). Application computer device 20 may also receive graphics instructions 30 from graphics device 2 (172). Graphics instructions 30 are executed by graphics device 2 to display one or more graphics images (eg, three-dimensional (3D) graphics images) on display device 6. In one aspect, graphics instruction 30 includes a call stream that renders a graphics image when executed. In one aspect, the call stream includes binary instructions generated from application programming interface (API) instructions.

  Application computer device 20 may further receive state and / or performance information 32 from graphics device 2 (174). The state / performance information 32 relates to the execution of graphics instructions 30 on the graphics device 2. The state / performance information 32 may include state information indicating one or more states of the graphics device 2 when the graphics device 2 renders a graphics image. The state information includes state information from one or more processors (eg, control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14 and / or display processor 16) of graphics device 2 executing graphics instructions 30. But it ’s okay. In some cases, the state information may include graphics data (eg, primitive polygon data used by graphics processor 12 to render graphics image data).

  Application computer device 20 may display a representation of one or more graphics images based on graphics instructions 30 and state / performance information 32 in a graphical scene (176). In such a manner, the application computer device 20 can display a representation of these graphics images within a simulated environment that simulates the graphics device 2. The simulated environment may be provided through the execution of the simulation application 28 on the processor 22 of the application computing device 20.

  The application computer device 20 may overlay the graphics image and display a graphical representation of the partition that graphically divides the scene (178). For example, in one scenario, the application computing device 20 may display a graphical representation of the partitions shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In some cases, the partitions may include rectangular shaped partitions. The application computing device 20 may display a graphical representation of the partition based on the received mapping / partitioning information 33.

  Further, application computer device 20 may analyze graphics data for the displayed graphics image to determine which portions are associated with multiple partitions (180). For example, the application computing device 20 analyzes graphics primitives (eg, polygon data used to generate or render a display graphics image) and finds which polygon (eg, triangle) A determination may be made as to whether it spans multiple partitions.

  If there are more frames to process (182), receive graphics command (172), receive state information (174), display graphics image representation (176), display partition (178). And the analysis of the graphics data (180) may be repeated for a plurality of image frames of one or more graphics images. In this manner, the application computer device 20 can display both still and animated graphics images (including 3D images) on the display device 24, overlay the image, and display the scene. You can display a graphical representation of a partition that you want to split graphically. As the graphics image changes or a perspective view of the image is shown, the application developer can continuously see the relationship between the graphics data associated with the partition image and location. .

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method that may be performed by the application computing device 20 through execution of the simulation application 28 (FIG. 1), according to one aspect. In one aspect, the processor 22 may execute a simulation application 28 to display the navigation controller on the display device 24.

  Application computer device 20 may receive mapping / partitioning information 33 from an external graphics device (eg, graphics device 2) (190). The application computer device 20 may also display a perspective view of one or more graphics images on its display device 24 (191). For example, the application computing device 20 may display a perspective view of the graphics image based on the received graphics instructions 30 and / or state / performance information 32.

  The application computing device 20 may display on the display device 24 a graphic representation of the partition overlaying the graphics image based on the received mapping / partitioning information 33 (192). Application computer device 20 also includes graphics data (eg, in state / performance information 32) to determine which portions of graphics data are associated with more than one of the partitions. Graphics image) may be analyzed. For example, the graphics data may include a plurality of graphics primitives (eg, triangles). Application computing device 20 may determine which of the triangles spans multiple of the partitions (193). These triangles may include triangles rendered at least partially in multiple partitions.

  In one embodiment, application computer device 20 displays a graphical representation of a partition and displays a graphical representation of a triangle across multiple of the partitions on display device 24. In some cases, application computing device 20 may display a graphical indication (eg, color) for each triangle across multiple partitions (194).

  For example, the application computer device 20 may display a triangular “heat map” representation on the display device 24 in one aspect. Here, each triangle has an associated graphical indicator (eg, color). In addition to color, other forms of graphical indicators (eg, dash lines, blinking indicators, highlight indicators) may be used in certain scenarios that distinguish triangles from each other. Triangles that do not span multiple partitions may be displayed in a first color (eg, blue). Triangles that span multiple partitions (eg, 2-3 partitions) may be displayed in a second color (eg, purple). Triangles that span more than three partitions may be displayed prominently in a third color (eg, red). Thus, in this example, the application developer can quickly determine which triangles span multiple partitions and which triangles span more partitions than others. Developers use this information to determine how to reconstruct, redefine, or otherwise restructure triangles across multiple partitions to reduce performance (eg, rendering) overhead You can get.

  The application computer device 20 may use the navigation module 29 (FIG. 1) to display the navigation controller in the user interface displayed on the display device 24. For example, the navigation controller may include a 3D camera controller. The application developer may interact with the navigation controller to navigate the scene of the graphics image displayed on the display device 24. The application computing device 20 may receive user input from the developer via the navigation controller to modify the perspective view of the image (195).

  The application computing device 20 may then display a modified perspective view of the graphics image in the modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller. For example, the developer may interact with the navigation controller to rotate the scene of the image, zoom in or out of the scene, or otherwise change the perspective view of the scene. It may then display a modified perspective view of the image in the modified scene, including the new image. The user input provided to the navigation controller may be sent to the graphics device 2 as the requested modification 34 and the updated perspective view display is displayed by the graphics device 2 on the original application. It may be based on updated instructions / information 35 provided to the computer device 20. In one aspect, the requested modification 34 is a request to invalidate execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 on the graphics device 2, of the graphics instructions 30 on the graphics device 2. And / or a request to modify state / performance information 32 relating to graphics device 2 may be included.

  In one embodiment, the application computing device 20 may also overlay a modified perspective view of the graphics image and display a graphical representation of the partition that graphically divides the modified scene. The application computing device 20 may use graphics for a modified perspective view of a graphics image to determine which portion of graphics data is associated with more than one of the partitions. -Data may be analyzed.

  Displaying a perspective view of the graphics image (s) (191), displaying a partition over which the graphics image (s) is overlaid (192), any (one or more) Determining (193) whether a primitive triangle spans multiple partitions, displaying a graphical indication for each determined triangle (194), and modifying the navigation controller to modify the perspective view of the scene Receiving user input via (195) may be repeated for multiple perspective views of the scene (196). As the graphics image changes or a perspective view of the image is displayed, the application developer should continuously check the relationship between the graphics data related to the partition image and location. Can do.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a graphics device 200 connected to a display device 201 for displaying information in a graphics window 203, according to one aspect. For example, if graphics device 200 is part of graphics device 2 (FIG. 1), display device 201 may be part of graphics device 24 of application computer device 20. . Graphics device 200 can display 3D graphics image 202. Based on the graphics instructions and state / performance information sent from the graphics device 200, the display device 201 can generate a 3D graphics image 210 (which is a re-creation of the graphics image 202) in the window 203. ) Can be displayed. The display device 201 also allows these instructions and state / performance information to be changed by the developer to modify the graphics image 210 or the entire scene containing the graphics image 210. A visual representation of state / performance information can be displayed. The display device 201 may be included in any type of computer device (not shown) connected to the graphics device 200, and from the graphics device 200 such instructions and states / performances. Information can be received. (For simplicity, the computing device including the display device 201 has been omitted from the conceptual diagram shown in FIG. 10.)
As previously described, graphics device 200 is capable of displaying a 3D graphics image 202 (which is the cube in the example of FIG. 9). In the example of FIG. 9, graphics device 200 also has a keypad 204. A user may interact with the keypad 204 to operate the graphics device 200. The keypad 204 may include a number of keys and / or buttons. Graphics device 200 may send graphics instructions and state / performance information via connector 206 to devices including graphics device 201 (eg, application computer device 20). In one aspect, the connector 206 includes a universal system bus (USB) connector. In other aspects, different shaped connectors may be used. In some aspects, wireless communication may replace connector 206.

  As shown in the example of FIG. 9, display device 201 may display various types of information in a graphical user interface. In this example, the display device 201 displays a graphical window 203 in the graphical user interface. Window 203 includes a display area 211, a graphics instruction area 208 and a state / performance information area 214. The display area 211 includes a 3D graphics image 210. And it is a re-creation of the 3D graphics image 202 as previously described. In this example, the 3D graphics image includes a cube. In accordance with one aspect, the information displayed on display device 201 includes a representation or simulation of the information displayed on graphics device 202 for debugging and testing purposes.

  Graphics instruction area 208 includes a visual representation of one or more graphics instructions received from graphics device 200. As explained previously, the visual representation of such instructions may include a representation of such instructions. For example, if graphics device 200 sends binary graphics instructions, display device 201 may take other forms (eg, higher level application programming interface (API) instructions (eg, OpenGL instructions)). Such a binary instruction representation may be displayed. Mapping information (eg, mapping information 31 shown in FIG. 1) may be used to map received binary instructions to other formats that may be displayed in graphics instruction area 208 NAI.

  State / performance information area 214 includes a visual representation of state and / or performance information received from graphics device 200. The received graphics instructions and state / performance information may be used to display the 3D graphics image 210 in the display area. In one aspect, graphics device 200 may provide a state / performance data module (eg, state / performance data module 116 shown in FIG. 4) to provide various state and / or performance data. ) May be used. The received state / performance information may include graphics data (eg, primitive data and / or rasterized data).

  The window 203 or one or a plurality of selectors 212A to 212N is included. The user may select any of these selectors 212A to 212N. Each selector 212A-212N may be associated with a different function (eg, statistics and navigation functions), as described in more detail below. Window 203 further includes selectors 216A-216N and 218A-218N. And each may be selected by the user. Each selector 216A-216N and 218A-218N is also associated with a different function (eg, a metric function, an override function and / or a texture function), as described in more detail below with reference to FIG. obtain.

  A user (for example, an application developer) may change information displayed in the window 203. For example, the user may modify one or more of the instructions displayed in the graphics instruction area 208 or any of the state / performance information in the state / performance information area 214.

  Any changes initiated by the user within the window 203 may then be sent to the graphics device 200 as a requested modification. Graphics device 200 may then process these modifications and may then display updated instructions and / or information that may be displayed in graphics instruction area 208 and / or state / performance information area 214. May be provided. The updated instructions and / or information may also be used to display a modified version of the 3D graphics image 210 in the display area 211.

  In one aspect, state and / or performance information that may be displayed in area 214 may be displayed on display device 201 to identify potential bottlenecks during execution of graphics instructions on graphics device 200. It may be analyzed by a computer device including (for example, the application computer device 20 shown in FIG. 1). Finally, a user (eg, an application developer) can view information presented in window 203 during the debugging process to optimize the execution of graphics instructions on graphics device 200. May want. As previously described, bottlenecks can be introduced anywhere in the graphics processing pipeline in graphics device 200, and such bottles can be used by application developers to optimize performance. It may be difficult to separate the necks. Through analysis of state and / or performance information, potential bottlenecks and possible workarounds can be found in window 203, for example in one or more subwindows or pop-up windows, or in area 214 of window 203. Can be displayed.

  In one aspect, the window 203 may display a report regarding bottlenecks that occur in the call stream of graphics instructions received from the graphics device 200, and further display possible workarounds. Also good. In some cases, these possible workarounds may be presented to the user as a “what-if” scenario. For example, rendering a list of unoptimized triangles in a call stream may be presented as a first possible scenario, while a triangle-strip optimization framework The pre-processing listed through) may be presented as a second possible scenario. The user may select any of these possible workaround scenarios as a requested fix, and the requested fix is then sent to the graphics device 200 (where performance May be measured). Graphics device 200 then sends updated instructions / information. It may then be presented in graphics instruction area 208 and / or state / performance information area 214. The user can then view the results and compare the results for a variety of different potential workarounds to identify the optimal solution. Users can use this process to quickly identify a series of steps that can be taken to remove bottlenecks from their applications.

  The user may continue to make adjustments in the window 203 repeatedly for experimental or trial / error debugging purposes. The user may experiment with various different forms or combinations of graphics instructions and state / performance information to identify changes in the image or scene displayed in the display area 211. The user can add graphics instructions (which may be part of the call stream) and graphics without the need to recompile the source code and re-execute the compiled code on the graphics device 200. The simulation environment provided by the contents of window 203 can be used to interactively view and modify the state provided by device 200.

  In some cases, the user presses one or more of buttons 212A-212N to operate a graphical navigation controller (eg, a graphical camera) to modify the perspective view of graphics image 210. You may operate. Such an operation may then be captured as a requested modification that is sent to the original graphics device 200. The updated instructions / information provided by the graphics device 200 is then used to modify the perspective view of the graphics image 210.

  In some cases, various texture and / or state information may be provided in area 214 of window 203 as a modifiable entity. Furthermore, the user may even select, for example, a pixel of the graphics image 210 in the display area 211 so that one or more corresponding instructions in the graphics instruction area 208 are identified. In this manner, the user can effectively drill back to the rendering instructions or calls used to render that pixel or other portion of the graphics image 210. Because the graphics device 201 may recreate the image 210 in the window 203 when it is being presented exactly on the graphics device 200, the user can use those applications (which are graphics Modify any state in the state / performance area 214 to quickly separate issues and prototyping new effects (which may be based on various graphics instructions displayed in the instruction area 208). be able to.

  In one aspect, the display device 201 can also display partitioning information as well as polygon data that may span multiple partitions. For example, the application developer may cause display device 201 to overlay image 210 and display a graphical representation of a partition (eg, a rectangular shaped partition) that graphically divides the scene in display area 211. A button (eg, one of buttons 212A-212N) may be selected. In some cases, when device 200 is part of graphics device 2, the displayed partition may be based on received mapping / partitioning information 33 (FIG. 1). Devices including display device 201 may also include graphics data (eg, for graphics image 210) to determine which portions of graphics data are associated with multiple of the partitions. , Polygon data) may be analyzed. For example, if multiple polygons are used to render graphics image 210, the device may analyze the polygons to determine which of these polygons span multiple partitions.

  FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another example of a graphics device 200 connected to a display device 201 that displays information in a graphical window 220 according to one aspect. In this aspect, the window 220 includes various instruction information as well as metric information.

  For example, various graphics instructions 242 are shown in the graphics instruction area 208. Graphics instructions 242 may be a subset of graphics instructions provided by graphics device 200. For example, if graphics device 200 is part of graphics device 2, graphics instructions 242 may be a subset of graphics instructions 30. In some cases, the mapping information (e.g., mapping information 31 shown in FIG. 1) may cause incoming instructions received from graphics device 200 as instructions 242 displayed in graphics instruction area 208. It may be used to map to visual representations of these instructions that are materialized. For example, if the received instruction is in binary format, the instruction 242 may include an API instruction that was used to generate the binary instruction.

  As shown in the example of FIG. 10, graphics instruction 242 includes both a high level instruction and a low level instruction. A user (eg, an application developer) may use scroll bar 244 to view the full set of instructions 242. Certain high level instructions may include one or more low level instructions (eg, lower level API instructions). An application developer may optionally be on a particular high-level instruction to view any low-level instruction that is part of or executed by the associated high-level instruction ( (E.g., by clicking). As previously described, received graphics instructions (eg, instructions 242) are used to generate a representation of graphics image 202. It then includes a graphics image 210 shown in the display area 211 of the window 220.

  Various selection buttons are shown below the state / performance information area 214 in FIG. These selection buttons include a texture button 236, an override button 238 and a metric button 240. In the example of FIG. 10, the application developer has selected the metric button 240. Depending on the selection of this button, various metric options may be presented. For example, one or more metric buttons 234A-234N may be shown above the state / performance area 214. Each metric button 234A-234N may be associated with a particular metric. In some cases, one or more of these metrics may be a predefined or pre-configured metric type, and in some cases, the application developer selects one or more of the metrics. Or you may customize. Exemplary metrics may include, for example, any one or more of the following: frames per second,% busy (for one or more processors), bus busy, memory busy, vertex busy, vertex per second, Triangle per second, pixel clock per second, fragment per second, etc. The application developer may select any of the metric buttons 234A-234N to view further details regarding the selected metric.

  For example, if the metric button 234A is related to the number of frames per second, the application developer can view the metrics image 210 to see further details regarding the number of frames per second (related to performance). Button 234A may be selected, or a portion of graphics image 210 may be selected. The developer may select the metric button 234A or drag the metric button 234A to the state / performance information area 214 as the case may be. Detailed information regarding the number of frames per second may be displayed in the state / performance information area 214. The developer may also drag the metric button 234A to the display area 211 or select a portion of the graphics image 210 for the application of the metric button 234A. For example, the developer may select a portion of graphics image 210 after selection of metric button 234A, and detailed information regarding the number of frames per second for that selected portion is state / performance information. It may be displayed in the area 214. In such a method, the developer may be based on a selection of one or more of the metric buttons 234A-234N and even based on a possible selection of the graphics image 210 (or portion thereof). The performance data for any number of different metric types may be viewed.

  In one aspect, the metric data that may be displayed in the window 220 may be provided by the graphics driver of the graphics device 200 (eg, the graphics driver 18 shown in FIG. 4). The graphics driver then provides a hardware counter module (eg, hardware counter module 114 of FIG. 4) and / or to provide various data that can be displayed as metric data in window 220. Alternatively, a processor use module (for example, the processor use module 112 in FIG. 4) may be mounted.

  The developer may also select the texture button 236 in some cases. Depending on the selection, various forms of texture information related to the graphics image 210 may be displayed by the graphics device 201. For example, the texture information may be displayed in the window 220 (eg, in the state / performance information area 214). In some cases, the texture information may be displayed in a further (eg, pop-up) window (not shown). The developer may browse the displayed texture information, but may correct the texture information in some cases. In these cases, any modification to the texture information may be propagated to the graphics device 200 as the requested modification. Changes to the graphics image 210 may be displayed in the display area 211 in response to receiving updated instructions / information from the graphics device 200. FIG. 11 includes specific texture information that may be displayed in response to selection of the texture button 236.

  The developer may also select an override button 238 in some cases. After selection of the override button 238, specific information (command and / or state) may be displayed (eg, in window 220 or other window). It may then be modified or overridden by the developer. Any modifications or overrides may be included in one or more requested modifications sent to the graphics device 200. In one aspect, graphics device 200 may implement a graphics driver (eg, graphics driver 18A (FIG. 4)) to handle any required modifications. For example, graphics device 200 may use override module 120 to handle such requested modifications that include one or more overrides.

  In some cases, the developer may override one or more of the graphics instructions 242 shown in the graphics instruction area 208. In these cases, the developer may type or enter information in the graphics instruction area 208 to modify or override one or more of the graphics instructions 242. These modifications may then be sent to the graphics device 200. It will then provide updated instructions / information to update the display of graphics image 210 in display area 211. The developer may change, for example, the parameters, ordering, type, etc. of the graphics instruction 242 to override one or more functions provided by the instruction 242. In one aspect, the mapping information 31 (FIG. 1) may then map changes to the graphics instructions 242 to corresponding instructions in other formats (eg, binary instructions) that may be provided to the graphics device 200. It may be used to convert.

  In some cases, the developer may also select an override button 238 that overrides one or more functions associated with the processing pipeline implemented by the graphics device 200. FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an override screen that may be displayed to the developer in response to selection of the override button 238.

  Window 220 further includes selection buttons 231 and 232. The selection button 231 is a partition button, and the selection button 232 is a navigation button. The developer overlays graphics image 210 and partitions button 231 for viewing a graphical representation of a partition (eg, a rectangular shaped partition) that graphically divides the scene displayed in display area 211. May be selected. Depending on the user selection of the partition button 231, a graphical partition may be displayed in the display area 211.

  Display area 211, or a separate display area or window, also provides information based on the analysis of graphics data for graphics image 210 that determines which portions of the data are associated with multiple partitions. It may be displayed. For example, display area 211, or a separate display area or window, displays a graphical representation of the partition, as well as which polygon (which is used to render graphics image 210) spans multiple partitions. May be. In some cases, a graphical indication (eg, color) may be displayed for each polygon (eg, triangle) across multiple partitions.

  For example, in one embodiment, a “heat map” may be displayed. Here, each triangle is displayed in a specific color. Triangles that do not span multiple partitions may be displayed in a first color (eg, blue). Triangles that span multiple partitions (eg, 2-3 partitions) may be displayed in a second color (eg, purple). Triangles that span more than three partitions may be displayed prominently in a third color (eg, red). Thus, in this example, the application developer can quickly determine which triangles span multiple partitions and which triangles span more partitions than others. To determine how to reconstruct, redefine, or otherwise reconstruct triangles across multiple partitions to reduce performance (eg, rendering) overhead when generating graphics image 210 In the meantime, this information can be used.

  The developer may also select a navigation button 232 to navigate within the display area 211 and even allow the perspective view of the graphics image 210 within the display area 211 to be changed. For example, in response to selection of the navigation button 232, a 3D graphical camera or navigation controller may be displayed. The developer may interact with the controller to navigate to any area within the display area 211. Developers may also use the controller to change the perspective view of the graphics image 210 (eg, by rotating the graphics image 210 or zooming in / out, etc.).

  In one aspect, any developer-initiated change through the selection of the navigation button 232 and interaction with the graphical navigation controller may be requested modification (eg, as shown in FIG. 1). As part of the modification 84) may be propagated to the graphics device 200. The updated instructions / information provided by the graphics device 200 may then be used to update the display (eg, perspective view) of the graphics image 210. Further, the updated instruction may be displayed in the graphics instruction area 208. The updated state / performance information may be displayed in the state / performance information area 214.

  In one aspect, the graphical partition may be displayed or overlaid on the modified perspective view of the graphics image 210. Further, the graphics data included in the updated instructions / information for the modified perspective view of the graphics image 210 is to determine which portion of the data is associated with multiple partitions. May be analyzed.

  As a result, the developer has an effect on how alternative perspectives, policies, views, etc. for rendering or displaying the graphics image 210 can affect the performance and state of the graphics device 200. Can be determined efficiently and efficiently. This is the graphics used to create and render the graphics image 210 and the graphics image 202 that is effectively displayed on the graphics device 200 in the simulation environment displayed on the display device 201. It can be very useful for developers in optimizing instructions 242. In one aspect, the position, depth, orientation, and any other changes of the graphics image 210 based on developer-initiated selection and control within the window 220 are also changed during the testing process. May be considered a change for the graphics image 202 that may be displayed.

  Through interaction with the graphical window 220 in the graphical user interface, the application developer can attempt to identify performance issues and / or bottlenecks during execution of the graphics instructions 242. It is then a visual representation of the graphics instructions that are executed by the graphics device 200 to create the graphics image 202. A representation of graphics image 202 (ie, graphics image 210) is displayed in display area 211 based on graphics instructions 242 and state / performance data received by graphics device 200. By viewing graphics instructions 242, graphics image 210 and state / performance information and the impact based on user-initiated modifications to one or more of these, application developers can Trial and error debugging processes for optimizing instruction execution on the device 200 and for eliminating or mitigating any performance issues (eg, bottlenecks) during instruction execution In particular, you can engage interactively and dynamically.

  In addition, a visual representation of a graphical scene that includes several different graphical partitions allows developers to identify portions of the graphical scene that exhibit degraded performance due to the costs that can be associated with screen partitions. You may be able to do it. Developers may review partitions and associated analysis information to investigate alternative compositions of the scene to help reduce these costs and / or related performance overhead.

  The techniques described in this disclosure are implemented in a general purpose microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific IC (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other equivalent logic device. May be. Accordingly, as used herein, the term “processor” or “controller” refers to any of the previously described structures suitable for implementation of the technology described herein, or other Any structure may be indicated.

  The various components described herein may be implemented by any suitable combination of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. In the figure, the various components are shown as independent units or modules. However, all or some of the various components described with reference to these figures may be integrated into a complex unit or module within common hardware and / or software. Thus, the representation of features as components, units, or modules is intended to highlight specific functional features for ease of explanation, and as such by independent hardware or software components. It is not always necessary to realize such features. In some cases, the various units may be implemented as programmable processes that are executed by one or more processors.

  Any of the functional groups described herein as modules, devices, or components (including graphics device 100 and / or its components) may be combined together or separately in an integrated logic device. However, it may be independently implemented as a plurality of logical devices that can exchange information in a timely manner (interoperable). In various aspects, such components may be formed at least partially as one or more integrated circuit devices. They may then be collectively referred to as integrated circuit devices (eg, integrated circuit chips or chip sets). Such circuitry may be provided in a single integrated circuit chip device or in an integrated circuit chip device capable of exchanging information in a timely manner, and for various images, displays, audio or other multimedia. It may be used in any of the applications and devices. In some aspects, for example, such components may form part of a mobile device (eg, a wireless communication device handset).

  If implemented in software, the techniques may be performed by a computer-readable medium containing code having instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform one or more of the methods described above. It may be realized at least partially. The computer readable medium may form part of a computer program product (which may include packaging material). Computer readable media include random access memory (RAM) (eg, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) Embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage media.

  In addition or alternatively, the present technology provides at least a computer-readable communication medium that carries or conveys code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read and / or executed by one or more processors. It may be realized partially. Either connection can be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, software sends from a web site, server, or other remote source that uses coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology (eg, infrared, wireless, and microwave) If so, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology (eg, infrared, wireless and microwave) are included in the definition of the medium. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Any software utilized is executed by one or more processors (eg, one or more DSPs, general purpose microprocessors, multiple ASICs, multiple FPGAs, or other equivalent integrated or separate logic circuits). May be.

  Various aspects have been described herein. These and other aspects are within the scope of the following claims.

  Various aspects have been described herein. These and other aspects are within the scope of the following claims.  
  Below, the invention corresponding to each claim described in the scope of claims of the present application is appended.  
  [1] displaying one or more graphics images in a graphical scene, and displaying a graphical representation of a partition that overlays the one or more graphics images and graphically divides the scene. Analyzing the graphics data to determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. Including methods.  
  [2] repeatedly displaying the one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and analyzing the graphics data for the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images. The method according to [1], further comprising:  
  [3] The method according to [1], wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images includes a three-dimensional graphics image.  
  [4] Displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions displays a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions overlaying the one or more graphics images and graphically dividing the scene. [1] The method of including.  
  [5] The method of [1], wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.  
  [6] The method according to [5], wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.  
  [7] The method of [6], wherein analyzing the graphics data includes determining which of the triangles spans a plurality of the partitions.  
  [8] Determining which of the triangles spans more than one of the partitions is determining which of the triangles are at least partially rendered in the more of the partitions. The method of [7], comprising determining whether or not it has been done.  
  [9] The method of [7], further comprising displaying a graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions.  
  [10] Displaying the graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions together with displaying the graphical representation of the partition and the graphical representation of the triangle over the plurality of the partitions [9] The method including displaying an expression.  
  [11] Displaying the graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions includes displaying a graphical indication for each triangle, the graphical indication corresponding to each [9] The method of [9], which provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by a triangle.  
  [12] The method of [11], wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.  
  [13] The method of [11], wherein displaying the graphical indication for each triangle includes notably displaying the graphical indication for those triangles over more partitions than the other triangles.  
  [14] Displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions includes receiving partitioning information from an external graphics device, and based on the received partitioning information, the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions. The method of [1], including displaying an expression.  
  [15] displaying a navigation controller; receiving user input for interacting with the navigation controller; and in a modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller The method of [1], further comprising displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images.  
  [16] Displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlays the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images and graphically divides the modified scene. Displaying the graphical representation of, wherein analyzing the graphics data is related to which portion of the graphics data is associated with the plurality of partitions of the plurality of partitions. The method of [15], comprising analyzing graphics data relating to the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images to determine.  
  [17] Receiving graphics instructions from an external graphics device and state information from the external graphics device (the state information relates to execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device) And displaying the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene based on the graphics instructions and the state information. [1] The method including displaying an image.  
  [18] The method according to [17], wherein the state information includes the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images.  
  [19] The method of [17], further comprising receiving mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions.  
  [20] The method of [1], wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data.  
  [21] Graphical representation of a partition that causes one or more processors to display one or more graphics images in a graphical scene, overlays the one or more graphics images, and graphically divides the scene To determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for analysis.  
  [22] Displaying the one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and graphics relating to the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images on the one or more processors. [21] The computer-readable medium according to [21], further including computer-executable instructions for repeatedly performing data analysis.  
  [23] The computer-readable medium according to [21], wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images includes a three-dimensional graphics image.  
  [24] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlay the one or more graphics images on the one or more processors. [21] The computer readable medium of [21] comprising computer executable instructions for displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions that graphically divide the scene.  
  [25] The computer-readable medium of [21], wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.  
  [26] The computer readable medium of [25], wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.  
  [27] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to analyze the graphics data are such that any one of the triangles is a plurality of the partitions. [2] The computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions for determining whether or not the program is over.  
  [28] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to determine which triangles of the triangles span a plurality of the partitions are the one or more processors, the triangle [27] The computer-readable medium of [27] comprising computer-executable instructions for determining which triangles of at least partially rendered in a plurality of said partitions.  
  [29] The computer-readable medium of [27], further comprising the computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.  
  [30] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions are for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical of the partition. [29] The computer-readable medium of [29] comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying a representation and displaying the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.  
  [31] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the triangles over a plurality of the partitions are graphically related to each triangle by the one or more processors. [29] computer readable including computer-executable instructions for displaying indications, wherein the graphical indication provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle Medium.  
  [32] The computer-readable medium of [31], wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.  
  [33] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical indications for each triangle are those triangles that span more partitions than the other triangles. [31] The computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for prominently displaying the graphical indication regarding.  
  [34] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions receive partitioning information from an external graphics device to the one or more processors. And [21] a computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions based on the received partitioning information.  
  [35] causing the one or more processors to display a navigation controller, receive user input for interacting with the navigation controller, and modify graphics based on the user input to the navigation controller The computer-readable medium of [21], further comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in the scene.  
  [36] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions are the modified one or more of the one or more graphical images to the one or more processors. Computer-executable instructions for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions that overlays a perspective view and graphically divides the modified scene, the graphics data to the one or more processors The computer-executable instructions for analyzing the one or more processors determine which portion of the graphics data is associated with the plurality of partitions of the plurality of partitions. In order to The computer-readable medium of [35] comprising computer executable instructions for causing the analysis graphics data for the modified perspective view of a plurality of graphics images.  
  [37] Cause the one or more processors to receive graphics instructions from an external graphics device, and state information from the external graphics device (the state information is the graphics on the external graphics device). Computer-executable instructions for causing said one or more processors to display said one or more graphics images in said graphical scene. Computer-executable instructions include computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the one or more graphics images based on the graphics instructions and the state information [21]. Computer readable media.  
  [38] The computer-readable medium according to [37], wherein the state information includes the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images.  
  [39] The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to receive mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions. Computer readable medium.  
  [40] The computer-readable medium of [2], wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data.  
  [41] A display device and a partition for displaying one or more graphics images on the display device in a graphical scene, overlaying the one or more graphics images and graphically dividing the scene Displaying a graphical representation on the display device to determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions; And one or more processors configured to analyze the graphics data.  
  [42] The one or more processors may display the one or more graphics images, display a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and graphics for the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images. The device of [41], further configured to repeatedly perform data analysis.  
  [43] The device of [41], wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images includes a three-dimensional graphics image.  
  [44] The one or more processors at least by displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions overlaying the one or more graphics images and graphically dividing the scene. [41] The device configured to display the graphical representation of a plurality of partitions.  
  [45] The device of [41], wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.  
  [46] The device of [45], wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.  
  [47] The one or more processors are configured to analyze the graphics data at least by determining which of the triangles spans more than one of the partitions. [46] The device.  
  [48] The one or more processors may determine which one of the triangles at least by determining which one of the triangles has been rendered at least partially in the plurality of the partitions. [47] The device configured to determine whether a triangle spans a plurality of the partitions.
  [49] The device of [47], wherein the one or more processors are further configured to display a graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.  
  [50] The one or more processors are configured to display the graphical representation of the partition and at least by displaying the graphical representation of the triangle across the plurality of the partitions. The device of [49], configured to display the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of.  
  [51] The one or more processors display the graphical representation of the triangles over a plurality of the partitions, at least by displaying a graphical indication for each triangle, and the graphical indicators. Provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle [49].  
  [52] The device of [51], wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.  
  [53] The one or more processors display the graphical indication for each triangle at least by prominently displaying the graphical indication for those triangles across more partitions than the other triangles. [51] The device configured as follows.  
  [54] At least by the one or more processors receiving partitioning information from an external graphics device and displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions based on the received partitioning information. The device of [41], configured to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions.  
  [55] The one or more processors receive user input for interacting with the navigation controller and based on the user input to the navigation controller, in the modified graphics scene [41] The device of [41], further configured to display a navigation controller, at least by displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images.  
  [56] The one or more processors overlay the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images and display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions that graphically divides the modified scene At least by being configured to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions, wherein the one or more processors are configured such that any portion of the graphics data is the portion of the plurality of partitions. Analyzing the graphics data at least by analyzing graphics data relating to the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images to determine whether they are associated with multiple partitions. [5 Device].  
  [57] The one or more processors receive graphics instructions from an external graphics device, and state information from the external graphics device (the state information is the graphics on the external graphics device). And wherein the one or more processors display the one or more graphics images based on the graphics instructions and the state information. [41] The device of [41], configured to display at least one of the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene.  
  [58] The device of [57], wherein the state information includes the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images.  
  [59] The device of [57], wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions.  
  [60] The device of [41], wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data.  
  [61] A means for displaying one or more graphics images in a graphical scene and a graphical representation of a partition that overlays the one or more graphics images and graphically divides the scene And means for determining which portion of the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. And a device including means for analyzing the device.  
  [62] To repeatedly display one or more graphics images, display a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and analyze graphics data relating to the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images. [61] The device according to [61].  
  [63] The device of [61], wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images includes a three-dimensional graphics image.  
  [64] The means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlays the one or more graphics images and graphically represents a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions that graphically divide the scene. [61] The device of [61] comprising means for displaying  
  [65] The device of [61], wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.  
  [66] The device of [65], wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.  
  [67] The device of [66], wherein the means for analyzing the graphics data includes means for determining which of the triangles spans a plurality of the partitions.  
  [68] The means for determining which triangles of the triangles span a plurality of the partitions, wherein the triangles of the triangles are at least partially of the partitions of the partitions. [67] The device of [67], comprising means for determining whether it has been rendered in the object.  
  [69] The device of [67], further comprising means for displaying a graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.  
  [70] The means for displaying the graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions, and displaying the graphical representation of the partition and the triangle over the plurality of the partitions. [69] The device of [69] comprising means for displaying said graphical representation of  
  [71] The means for displaying the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions includes means for displaying a graphical indication for each triangle, the graphical indication comprising: [69] The device of [69], which provides visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle.  
  [72] The device of [71], wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.  
  [73] The means for displaying the graphical indication for each triangle includes means for prominently displaying the graphical indication for those triangles across more partitions than other triangles. ] Device.  
  [74] The means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions is based on the received partitioning information and means for receiving partitioning information from an external graphics device. Means for displaying the graphical representation of the partition of [61].  
  [75] Means for displaying a navigation controller, means for receiving user input for interacting with the navigation controller, and modified graphics based on the user input to the navigation controller [61] The device of [61], further comprising means for displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in the scene.  
  [76] The means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlays the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images and graphically divides the modified scene. Means for displaying the graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, the means for analyzing the graphics data wherein any portion of the graphics data is the portion of the plurality of partitions. [75] The device of [75], comprising means for analyzing graphics data relating to the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images to determine whether they are associated with a plurality of partitions.  
  [77] Means for receiving graphics instructions from an external graphics device and state information from the external graphics device (the state information is the execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device) And means for displaying the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene based on the graphics instructions and the state information. [61] The device of [61] comprising means for displaying said one or more graphics images.  
  [78] The device of [77], wherein the state information includes the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images.  
  [79] The device of [77], further comprising means for receiving mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions.  
  [80] The device of [61], wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data.

The developer may also select the texture button 236 in some cases. Depending on the selection, various forms of texture information related to the graphics image 210 may be displayed by the graphics device 201. For example, the texture information may be displayed in the window 220 (eg, in the state / performance information area 214). In some cases, the texture information may be displayed in a further (eg, pop-up) window (not shown). The developer may browse the displayed texture information, but may correct the texture information in some cases. In these cases, any modification to the texture information may be propagated to the graphics device 200 as the requested modification. Changes to the graphics image 210 may be displayed in the display area 211 in response to receiving updated instructions / information from the graphics device 200 . Depending on the choice of Te Kusucha button 236, specific texture information may be displayed.

In some cases, the developer may also select an override button 238 that overrides one or more functions associated with the processing pipeline implemented by the graphics device 200 . Depending on the choice of overriding button 238, override screen may be displayed to the developers.

Claims (80)

Displaying one or more graphics images in a graphical scene;
Displaying a graphical representation of a partition overlaying one or more graphics images and graphically dividing the scene;
Analyzing the graphics data to determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. Including methods.   It further includes iteratively displaying the one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and analyzing the graphics data for the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images. The method of claim 1.   The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image.   Displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions includes displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions that overlay the one or more graphics images and graphically divide the scene. The method of claim 1.   The method of claim 1, wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.   The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.   7. The method of claim 6, wherein analyzing the graphics data includes determining which triangles of the triangles span multiple ones of the partitions.   Determining which of the triangles spans multiple of the partitions is determining which of the triangles are at least partially rendered in multiple of the partitions The method of claim 7 comprising:   8. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying a graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions.   Displaying the graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions displays the graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions along with displaying the graphical representation of the partitions 10. The method of claim 9, comprising: Displaying the graphical representation of the triangles over a plurality of the partitions includes displaying a graphical indication for each triangle;
The method of claim 9, wherein the graphical indication provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle.   The method of claim 11, wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.   12. The method of claim 11, wherein displaying the graphical indication for each triangle includes notably displaying the graphical indication for those triangles across more partitions than other triangles. Displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions comprises:
Receiving partitioning information from an external graphics device;
The method of claim 1, comprising displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions based on the received partitioning information. Displaying a navigation controller;
Receiving user input to interact with the navigation controller;
The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in a modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller. Displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlays the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images and graphically divides the modified scene of the plurality of partitions. Including displaying a representation,
Analyzing the graphics data may include determining the portion of the graphics data that is associated with the plurality of partitions of the plurality of partitions. 16. The method of claim 15, comprising analyzing graphics data relating to the modified perspective view of a scanned image. Receiving graphics instructions from an external graphics device;
Receiving state information from the external graphics device, the state information relating to execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device;
The displaying of the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene includes displaying the one or more graphics images based on the graphics instructions and the state information. 1 method.   The method of claim 17, wherein the state information includes the graphics data for the one or more graphics images.   18. The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions.   The method of claim 1, wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data. One or more processors,
Display one or more graphics images in a graphical scene,
Displaying a graphical representation of a partition that overlays one or more graphics images and graphically divides the scene;
For analyzing the graphics data to determine which portions of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images are associated with a plurality of the partitions. A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions. The one or more processors;
A computer for repeatedly performing display of the one or more graphics images, display of a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and analysis of graphics data relating to the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images The computer-readable medium of claim 21, further comprising executable instructions.   The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image.   The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlay the one or more graphics images on the one or more processors and the scene. 24. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions that graphically divide.   The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.   26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.   The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to analyze the graphics data are such that any one of the triangles spans a plurality of the partitions. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, comprising computer-executable instructions for determining whether or not.   The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to determine which triangles of the triangles span multiple of the partitions are the one or more processors of the triangles. 28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, comprising computer-executable instructions for determining which triangles have been rendered at least partially in a plurality of the partitions.   28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, further comprising the computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.   The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions display the graphical representation of the partition on the one or more processors. 30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, comprising: computer-executable instructions for displaying the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions. The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the triangles across a plurality of the partitions are graphical indications for each triangle on the one or more processors. Including computer-executable instructions for displaying
30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the graphical indication provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle.   32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.   The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical indication for each triangle are the graphical for those triangles that span more partitions than the other triangles for the one or more processors. 32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, comprising computer-executable instructions for prominently displaying an indication. The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions are:
The one or more processors;
Receive partitioning information from an external graphics device,
The computer-readable medium of claim 21, comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions based on the received partitioning information. The one or more processors;
Display the navigation controller,
Receiving user input to interact with the navigation controller;
Computer-executable instructions for displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in a modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller. Item 21. The computer-readable medium according to Item 21. The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions are the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images on the one or more processors. Including computer-executable instructions for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlaying and graphically dividing the modified scene;
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to analyze the graphics data are such that any part of the graphics data is included in the plurality of partitions. A computer-executable instruction for causing the graphics data relating to the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images to be analyzed to determine whether the plurality of partitions are associated with the plurality of partitions. 35 computer-readable media. The one or more processors;
Receive graphics instructions from an external graphics device,
Computer-executable instructions for causing the external graphics device to receive state information (the state information relating to execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device);
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene include the graphics instructions and the state information to the one or more processors. 23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying the one or more graphics images based on:   38. The computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein the state information includes the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images.   38. The computer-readable instructions of claim 37, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to receive mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions. Medium.   The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data. A display device;
Displaying one or more graphics images on the display device during a graphical scene;
Displaying on the display device a graphical representation of a partition overlaying one or more graphics images and graphically dividing the scene;
Analyzing the graphics data to determine which portions of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images are associated with a plurality of the partitions. A device comprising one or more configured processors.   The one or more processors display the one or more graphics images, display a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and analyze graphics data for the plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images. 42. The device of claim 41, further configured to repeat.   42. The device of claim 41, wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image.   The one or more processors at least by displaying the graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions overlaying the one or more graphics images and graphically dividing the scene. 42. The device of claim 41, configured to display the graphical representation of:   42. The device of claim 41, wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.   46. The device of claim 45, wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.   47. The one or more processors are configured to analyze the graphics data at least by determining which of the triangles spans more than one of the partitions. Devices.   The one or more processors at least determine which triangles of the triangles have been rendered at least partially in the plurality of partitions, so that any of the triangles is the 48. The device of claim 47, configured to determine whether a plurality of partitions are spanned.   48. The device of claim 47, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to display a graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.   The one or more processors display the graphical representation of the partition and at least by displaying the graphical representation of the triangle across the plurality of the partitions. 50. The device of claim 49, configured to display the graphical representation of the triangle over a range. The one or more processors display the graphical representation of the triangles across a plurality of the partitions by at least displaying graphical indications for each triangle;
50. The device of claim 49, wherein the graphical indication provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle.   52. The device of claim 51, wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.   The one or more processors are configured to display the graphical indication for each triangle at least by prominently displaying the graphical indication for those triangles across more partitions than the other triangles 52. The device of claim 51, wherein: The one or more processors are:
Receive partitioning information from an external graphics device,
At least by displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions based on the received partitioning information.
42. The device of claim 41, configured to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions. The one or more processors are:
Receiving user input to interact with the navigation controller;
At least by displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in a modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller.
42. The device of claim 41, further configured to display a navigation controller. The one or more processors displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlaying the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images and graphically dividing the modified scene; At least according to, configured to display the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions;
The one or more processors may determine the one or more graphics images to determine which portion of the graphics data is associated with the plurality of partitions of the plurality of partitions. 56. The device of claim 55, configured to analyze the graphics data at least by analyzing graphics data relating to the modified perspective view. The one or more processors are:
Receive graphics instructions from an external graphics device,
Further configured to receive state information from the external graphics device, the state information relating to execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device;
The one or more processors are configured to display the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene based at least on displaying the one or more graphics images based on the graphics instructions and the state information. 42. The device of claim 41, configured to display an image.   58. The device of claim 57, wherein the state information includes the graphics data for the one or more graphics images.   58. The device of claim 57, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions.   42. The device of claim 41, wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data. Means for displaying one or more graphics images in a graphical scene;
Means for displaying a graphical representation of a partition that overlays one or more graphics images and graphically divides the scene;
Analyzing the graphics data to determine which portion of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images is associated with a plurality of the partitions. A device comprising means.   Means for repeatedly displaying said one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of partitions, and analyzing graphics data for said plurality of frames of said one or more graphics images. 62. The device of claim 61, further comprising:   64. The device of claim 61, wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image.   The means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions displays a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular shaped partitions that overlay the one or more graphics images and graphically divide the scene. 62. The device of claim 61, comprising means for:   64. The device of claim 61, wherein the graphics data includes a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images.   66. The device of claim 65, wherein the plurality of graphics primitives include a plurality of triangles.   68. The device of claim 66, wherein the means for analyzing the graphics data includes means for determining which triangles of the triangles span multiple ones of the partitions.   The means for determining which one of the triangles spans a plurality of the partitions is the rendering of which one of the triangles is at least partially in the plurality of the partitions. 68. The device of claim 67, comprising means for determining whether it has been done.   68. The device of claim 67, further comprising means for displaying a graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions.   The means for displaying the graphical representation of the triangle over a plurality of the partitions is displayed with the graphical representation of the triangle over the plurality of the partitions. 70. The device of claim 69, comprising means for displaying the representation. The means for displaying the graphical representation of the triangle across a plurality of the partitions includes means for displaying a graphical indication for each triangle;
70. The device of claim 69, wherein the graphical indication provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle.   72. The device of claim 71, wherein the graphical indication for each corresponding triangle includes a color.   72. The means for displaying the graphical indications for each triangle includes means for prominently displaying the graphical indications for those triangles across more partitions than other triangles. Method. The means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions comprises:
Means for receiving partitioning information from an external graphics device;
62. The device of claim 61, comprising: means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions based on the received partitioning information. Means for displaying a navigation controller;
Means for receiving user input for interacting with the navigation controller;
62. means for displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in a modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller. device. The means for displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions overlays the modified perspective view of the one or more graphical images and graphically divides the modified scene. Means for displaying said graphical representation of
The means for analyzing the graphics data is to determine which portion of the graphics data is associated with the plurality of partitions of the plurality of partitions. 76. The device of claim 75, comprising means for analyzing graphics data relating to the modified perspective view of a plurality of graphics images. Means for receiving graphics instructions from an external graphics device;
Means for receiving state information from said external graphics device, said state information relating to execution of said graphics instructions on said external graphics device;
The means for displaying the one or more graphics images in the graphical scene is for displaying the one or more graphics images based on the graphics instructions and the state information. 62. The device of claim 61, comprising means.   78. The device of claim 77, wherein the state information includes the graphics data relating to the one or more graphics images.   78. The device of claim 77, further comprising means for receiving mapping information from the external graphics device that maps the graphics data to the graphics instructions.   62. The device of claim 61, wherein the partition is determined based on a rendering of an operation performed on the graphics data.

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