KR101286938B1 - Partitioning-based performance analysis for graphics imaging - Google Patents

Abstract

In general, the present disclosure is directed to techniques for providing a visual representation of a graphical scene comprising a number of different graphic partitions, which techniques enable a user to view reduced performance due to costs associated with screen partitioning And may allow to identify portions of the graphics scene. One exemplary device includes a display device and one or more processors. One or more processors may display one or more graphics images in a graphics scene on a display device, display on the display device a graphical representation of partitions that overlay one or more graphics images and partition the scene graphically, Analyze the graphics data and determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with the multiple partitions of the partitions.

Description

PARTITIONING-BASED PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS FOR GRAPHICS IMAGING FOR GRAPHICS IMAGING

35 Claim of priority under U.S.C. §119

This application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 083,659, entitled PARTITIONING-BASED PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS FOR GRAPHICS IMAGING, filed July 25, 2008, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Claim priority.

References to co-pending patent applications

This patent application relates to the following co-pending U.S. patent applications:

61 / 083,656, filed July 25, 2008, having attorney docket 080967P1, filed concurrently herewith, assigned to the assignee of the present application and expressly incorporated herein by reference; And

No. 61 / 083,665, filed July 25, 2008, having attorney docket 080971P1, filed concurrently herewith, assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

Technical field

This disclosure relates to the display of graphics images.

background

Graphics processors can be used to render two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) images for a variety of applications such as video games, graphics programs, computer-aided design (CAD) applications, simulation and visualization tools, It is widely used. The display processors may be used to display the rendered output of the graphics processor for presentation to the user via the display device.

OpenGL ^® (Open Graphic Library) is a standard specification that defines an API (application programming interface) that can be used when creating applications that produce 2D and 3D graphics. Other languages, such as Java, may define bindings to OpenGL APIs through their own standard processes. The interface includes a number of function calls or instructions that can be used to draw scenes from simple primitives. Graphics processors, multimedia processors, and even general purpose CPUs can then execute applications written using OpenGL function calls. OpenGL ES (embedded systems) is a variant of OpenGL designed for embedded devices such as mobile wireless telephones, digital multimedia players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or video game consoles.

Graphics applications, such as 3D graphics applications, may describe or define the content of a scene by invoking APIs or instructions that generate an image using basic graphics hardware, such as one or more processors in a graphics device . Graphics hardware may experience a series of state transitions performed through these APIs. A full set of states for each API call, such as a draw call or command, can describe a process in which the image is rendered by hardware from one or more graphics primitives, such as one or more triangles.

In addition, binning-based or partitioning-based graphics hardware can often be implemented using a process in which individual graphics primitives intended for rendering are clustered into binaries or bins, It is possible to divide scenes of images displayed on the screen. The hardware may do so due to screen size or resolution constraints, or memory constraints associated with rendering operations. Graphics primitives that may span across multiple binning partitions may be partitioned into multiple fragments by hardware along the edges of the partitions before the primitive fragments are rendered. The hardware may render all the primitive fragments separately in each partition.

Thus, for example, an individual primitive that may span across two binning partitions may be divided into two fragments, and then each of these two fragments may be rendered independently. However, thereafter, the graphics images generated by each of these fragments may need to be recombined within the frame of the image data before being displayed on the screen of the display device. Thus, the primitive graphics data spanning across different partitions may be separately processed and rendered, and then the rendered image data may be recombined to form the final image.

summary

In general, the present disclosure is directed to techniques for providing a visual representation of a graphic scene comprising a plurality of different graphic partitions, which techniques enable a user to view reduced Allowing you to identify portions of the graphics scene that represent performance. A graphics device, such as a mobile device, may provide partitioning or binning information to an external computing device (e.g., a personal computer) based on the number and type of partitions created by the graphics driver. The graphics device may also provide graphics instructions and status information to the computing device.

The computing device may display one or more graphics images in a graphics scene based on graphics instructions and state information. The computing device may also display a graphical representation of the partitions overlaying the scene based on the received partitioning information and may provide analysis information regarding possible partitioning costs or performance overhead. The application developer may use this information to assist in reducing these costs and / or performance overhead by examining alternate configurations of scenes.

In one aspect, a method includes displaying one or more graphics images in a graphics scene, overlaying one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of the partitions partitioning the scene graphically, And analyzing the graphics data for the one or more graphics images to determine which one of the plurality of partitions is associated with the plurality of partitions.

In an aspect, a device includes a display device and one or more processors. The one or more processors, on the display device, display one or more graphics images in a graphics scene, display on the display device a graphical representation of partitions that overlay one or more graphics images and partition the scene graphically, Is configured to analyze graphics data for one or more graphics images to determine whether portions are associated with multiple ones of the partitions.

In one aspect, a computer-readable medium includes instructions that cause one or more processors to display one or more graphics images in a graphics scene, overlay one or more graphics images, and display a graphical representation of the partitions that partition the scene graphically And includes computer-executable instructions for causing the processor to analyze graphics data for one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with multiple of the partitions.

The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software may be executed in a processor, which may be one or more processors such as a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a digital signal processor (DSP) Or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. Software containing instructions for executing the techniques may be initially stored on a computer readable medium and loaded and executed by the processor.

Accordingly, the present disclosure also contemplates a computer readable medium comprising instructions for causing a processor to perform any of the various techniques described in this disclosure. In some cases, the computer readable medium may form part of a computer program product, which may be sold to manufacturers and / or used in a device. The computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium and, in some cases, may also include packaging materials.

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.

Brief Description of Drawings

1 is a block diagram illustrating a graphics device, which may provide graphics commands, status and / or performance information, and partitioning information to an application computing device, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating certain details of the graphics processing system, graphics driver, and application computing device shown in Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

3 is a flow diagram illustrating additional details of operations that may be performed by a control processor, a graphics processor, a vertex processor, and a display processor, shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating additional details of the graphics driver shown in Figure 2, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

5A is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first example of graphics data that may span across four partitions of a screen region provided by a display device, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating graphics data of the first example of FIG. 5A separated along partition boundaries. FIG.

6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a second example of graphics data that may span eight partitions of a scrolling region provided by a display device, according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figure 7 is a flow diagram of a first method that may be performed by the application computing device shown in Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 8 is a flow diagram of a second method that may be performed by the application computing device shown in Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a graphics device coupled to a display device for displaying information in a graphics window, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another example of a graphics device coupled to a display device for displaying information within a graphics window, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;

details

1 is a block diagram of a graphics device 2 (which may provide graphics commands 30, status and / or performance information 32) and partitioning information 33 to an application computing device 20, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig. The graphics device 2 may be a standalone device, or it may be part of a larger system. For example, the graphics device 2 may form part of a wireless communication device (such as a wireless mobile handset) or may be part of a wireless communication device such as a digital camera, a video camera, a digital multimedia player, a personal digital assistant (PDA) Device or part of a dedicated viewing station (such as a television). The graphics device 2 may also include a personal computer or a laptop device. The graphics device 2 may also be included in one or more integrated circuits, chips, or chipsets that may be used in some or all of the devices described above.

In some cases, the graphics device 2 may be capable of executing various applications, such as graphics applications, video applications, audio applications, and / or other multimedia applications. For example, the graphics device 2 may be used for graphics applications, video game applications, video playback applications, digital camera applications, instant messaging applications, video conferencing applications, mobile applications, or video streaming applications It is possible.

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

In the graphics device 2, the graphics processing system 4 is coupled to both the storage medium 8 and the display device 6. The storage medium 8 may be any suitable storage medium such as, for example, a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a read only memory (ROM), a nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), an embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM), a static random access memory , Or any non-destructive or volatile memory capable of storing instructions and / or data, such as flash memory. The display device 6 may be any device capable of displaying image data for display purposes, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display device, or other television (TV) display device.

The vertex processor 14 can manage vertex information and process vertex transforms. In an aspect, the vertex processor 14 may include a digital signal processor (DSP). Graphics processor 12 may be a dedicated graphics rendering device used to render, manipulate, and display the computerized graphics. Graphics processor 12 may implement various complex graphics-related algorithms. For example, complex algorithms may correspond to representations of two- or three-dimensional computerized graphics. The graphics processor 12 implements a number of so-called "primitive" graphics operations, such as forming points, lines, and triangles, or other polygonal surfaces, You can also create three-dimensional images.

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

The graphics drivers 18 may also be loaded from the storage medium 8 to the graphics processing system 4 for execution. For example, one or more of the control processor 10, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16 may execute specific instructions from the graphics drivers 18. In one exemplary aspect, the graphics drivers 18 are loaded and executed by the graphics processor 12. The graphics drivers 18 will be described in more detail below.

In addition, the storage medium 8 includes graphics data mapping information 23. The graphics data mapping information 23 includes information for mapping one or more of the application instructions 21 to graphics data that may be rendered during execution of the application instructions 21. The graphics data, which may be stored in the storage medium 8 and / or the buffers 15, may include one or more primitives (e.g., polygons). The graphics data mapping information 23 may maintain a mapping of individual primitives to be rendered into separate instructions. After the primitives are rendered, the mapping information 23 allows mapping from individual instructions to original graphics data that was ultimately used to generate one or more images displayed on the graphics device 6. In some cases, the mapping information 23 may be useful for debugging and / or performance analysis.

1, the graphics processing system 4 also includes one or more buffers 15. In one embodiment, The control processor 10, the graphics processor 12, the vertex processor 14, and / or the display processor 16 each have access to the buffers 15 and store data in the buffers 15, (15). ≪ / RTI > The buffers 15 may comprise a cache memory and may be capable of storing both data and instructions. For example, the buffers 15 may include one or more of the one or more instructions or application instructions 21 from the graphics drivers 18, which are loaded into the graphics processing system 4 from the storage medium 8 have. The buffers 15 and / or the storage medium 8 may also contain graphics data used during instruction execution.

In certain instances, application instructions 21 may include instructions for a graphics application, such as a 3D graphics application. Application instructions 21 may include instructions that describe or define the content of a graphics scene that includes one or more graphics images. In case the application instructions 21 are loaded and executed by the graphics processing system 4, the graphics processing system 4 may experience a series of state transitions. Also, during execution of the application instructions 21, one or more instructions in the graphics drivers 18 may be executed to display or render graphics images on the display device 6.

A full set of states for a command, such as a draw call, may describe the process by which the graphics are rendered by the graphics processing system 4. However, the application developer who created the application commands 21 may often interactively view these states for purposes of debugging or testing, or alternate ways of describing or rendering images in a defined scene, It may have limited ability to do so. In addition, different hardware platforms may have different hardware designs and implementations of these states and / or state transitions.

In addition, binning-based graphics hardware, such as one or more of processors 10,12, 14, and 16, is often used to divide the scene of images displayed on the screen of the display device 6, Primitives may be implemented using a process that is clustered into quadrangular binning partitions or bins. The hardware may do so based on screen size or resolution constraints of the display device 6, or based on memory constraints of the storage medium 8 associated with rendering operations. Primitives that may span across multiple binning partitions are divided into multiple fragments by one or more of the processors 10, 12, 14, or 16 along the edges of the partitions before the primitive fragments are rendered It is possible. The primitive fragments in each partition may then be rendered separately. In general, the binning partitions may vary in number depending on the hardware architecture, and may have various sizes and shapes. For example, the binning partitions may include a plurality of (e.g., four, eight) rectangular partitions.

Thus, for example, an individual primitive that may span across two binning partitions may be divided into two fragments, and then each of these two fragments may be rendered independently. However, thereafter, the graphics images produced by each of these fragments may need to be recombined within the frame of the image data before being displayed on the screen of the display device 6. [ Thus, partitioning individual primitives spanning across multiple binning partitions may have possible processing overhead and degrade overall performance.

In one aspect, an application developer may use the application computing device 20 shown in FIG. 1 to assist in debugging and testing with alternative methods of describing or rendering images in a scene. The application computing device 20 may be capable of displaying a scene and overlaying a graphical representation of the binning partitions that may be implemented by the graphics device 2. [ The application computing device 20 is coupled to the graphics device 2. For example, in one aspect, the application computing device 20 is coupled to the graphics device 2 via a universal serial bus (USB) connection. In other aspects, other types of connections may be used, such as other forms of wireless or wired connections.

The application computing device 20 includes one or more processors 22, a display device 24, and a storage medium 26 (which may include a memory). Processors 22 may include one or more of a control processor, a graphics processor, a vertex processor, and a display processor in accordance with an aspect. The storage medium 26 may store instructions and instructions, such as, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read only memory (ROM), nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), static random access memory / RTI > and / or any non-destructive or volatile memory capable of storing data. The display device 24 may be any device capable of displaying image data for display purposes, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display device, or other television (TV) display device.

The application computing device 20 may capture and analyze the graphics instructions 30 with the status and / or performance information 32 transmitted from the graphics device 2. In one aspect, the graphics drivers 18 are configured to transmit graphics instructions 30 and status / performance information 32 to the application computing device 20. The graphics commands 30 may include one or more of the application instructions 21 and the status / performance information 32 may be generated during execution of the graphics instructions 30 within the graphics processing system 4 Or may be captured.

The state / performance information 32 includes information regarding the state and / or performance of the graphics processing system 4 during instruction execution and will be described in greater detail below. State / performance information 32 may include graphics data (e.g., primitive and / or rasterized graphics data) that may be used for graphics instructions 30, 30). The graphics processing system 4 may execute the graphics instructions 30 to display a scene of an image or images on the display device 6. [ The application computing device 20 can use the graphics instructions 30 in conjunction with the status / performance information 32 to recreate a graphics image or scene that is also displayed on the display device 6 of the graphics device 2 have.

In addition, the graphics device 2 may send the mapping and / or partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20. In one aspect, the graphics drivers 18 are configured to transfer the mapping / partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20. The mapping / partitioning information 33 may include one or more portions of the graphics data mapping information 23 that includes information for mapping the graphics data into separate instructions within the graphics instructions 30. For example, the mapping / partitioning information 33 may include information for mapping one or more primitives (e.g., polygons) to separate instructions within the graphics instructions 30.

In addition, the mapping / partitioning information 33 may include partitioning information generated and provided by the graphics device 2. In some cases, such partitioning information may be generated and provided by one or more of processors 10, 12, 14, and 16, such as control processor 10. [ The partitioning information may include information such as the number, type, size, and size of binaries or bins that may be used in the graphics processing system 4 to render the graphics data into one or more graphics images and display such images on the display device 6, And / or information identifying the shape. As previously described, the graphics device 2 can be configured to display the screen size of the display device 6, for example, based on memory size constraints of the buffers 15 and / or the storage medium 8 during rendering operations, Or partition the size into partitions. The partitioning information provides information about the partitions that are created and used. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate examples of such partitions.

The simulation application 28 may be used to regenerate a graphics image or scene upon receipt of graphics instructions 30 and status / performance information 32 and to display a scene of images or images on the display device 24, May be executed by one or more processors 22 of the application computing device 20. The simulation application 28 may include a software module containing a plurality of application instructions. The simulation application 28 may be stored on the storage medium 26 and loaded and executed by the processors 22. The simulation application 28 may be pre-loaded into the storage medium 26 and may be customized to operate with the graphics device 2.

In one aspect, 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 processors 22 for different graphics devices having different hardware designs. In some cases, software libraries may also be stored in the storage medium 26, which software libraries are used in conjunction with the simulation application 28. In one aspect, the simulation application 28 may be a generic application, or a particular hardware or graphics device simulation function may be included in each individual library that may be linked with the simulation application 28 during execution.

In one aspect, a visual representation of the state / performance information 32 may be displayed to the application developers on the display device 24. In addition, a visual representation of the graphics instructions 30 may be displayed. The application computing device 20 may use the command mapping information 31 to create graphics instructions 30 on the display device 24 because the graphics instructions 30 may include binary instructions. ) ≪ / RTI > The command mapping information 31 is stored in the storage medium 26 and may be loaded into the processors 22 to display a visual representation of the graphics instructions 30.

In one aspect, the instruction mapping information 31 includes mapping information for mapping graphics instructions 30 to corresponding API instructions that may have been compiled previously in the case of generating graphics instructions 30, It can also be included in the table. Application developers may create programs that use API commands, but these API commands are typically used by graphics commands 30 (included in application commands 21) for execution on graphics device 2, It is compiled into binary instructions. One or more instructions in graphics instructions 30 may be mapped to individual API instructions. The mapped API instructions may then be displayed to the application developer on the display device 24 to provide a visual representation of the graphics instructions 30 being actually executed.

In an aspect, a user, such as an application developer, may want to change one or more of the graphics instructions 30 to, for example, determine the effects of such changes on performance. In this aspect, the user may change the visual representation of the graphics instructions 30. [ The mapping information 31 then provides these changes in the visual representation of the graphics instructions 30 to the graphics device 2 within the requested transformations 34, May be used to map to binary instructions that may be provided.

As described above, the graphics image displayed on the display device 24 of the application computing device 20 may be a representation of the image displayed on the graphics device 2. [ Because the simulation application 28 may use the graphics instructions 30 and state / performance information 32 to regenerate exactly the same image or scene as presented on the graphics device 2, May be able to quickly identify possible performance issues or bottlenecks during execution of the graphics applications 30 and prototype the variations so that the overall performance of the graphics applications 30 May be improved.

For example, the application developer may determine that the graphics commands 30 and / or status / performance information 32 (i. E., ≪ RTI ID = Gt; (34) < / RTI > with respect to each other. Any such requested variants 34 may be based on observed performance issues or bottlenecks during execution of the graphics instructions 30 or analysis of the state / performance information 32. These requested variants 34 may then be sent by the graphics processing system 4 from the application computing device 20 to the graphics device 2 to which they are to be processed. In an aspect, one or more of the graphics drivers 18 is executed within the graphics processing system 4 to process the requested transformations 34. [ In some cases, the requested variants 34 may include modified instructions. In some cases, the requested variants may include modified status and / or performance information.

The updated instructions and / or information 35 are sent to the application computing device 20, e.g., by one or more graphics drivers 18, upon processing of the requested variants 34. [ The updated instructions / information 35 may include updated graphics instructions for execution, based on the requested transformations 34 that have been processed by the graphics device 2. [ In addition, the updated instructions / information 35 may include updated status and / or performance information based on the requested variants 34 that have been processed by the graphics device 2.

The updated instructions / information 35 are processed by the simulation application 28 to update the display of the image information regenerated on the display device 24 and also to update the visual representation of the updated instructions / (Again, it may include using the command mapping information 31). The application developer may then view the updated image information on the display device 24 as well as the visual representation of the updated instructions / information 35 to determine if performance issues have been resolved or mitigated. The application developer may use an iterative process to improve the overall performance graphics application 30 by debugging the graphics instructions 30 or prototype variants.

In one aspect, the application computing device 20 uses the mapping / partitioning information 23 to display a visual graphical representation of the partitions that overlay the graphics images displayed on the display device 24. These partitions graphically partition the scene containing these images on the display device 24. [ For example, the simulation application 28 may use the partitioning module 27 to process the mapping / partitioning information 33 to determine the location of these partitions (e.g., a plurality of rectangular partitions) on the screen of the display device 24 A graphics representation may also be generated.

The partitioning module 27 may be loaded from the storage medium 26 and executed by the processors 22. If executed, the partitioning module 27 may also analyze graphics data, which may be included in the state / performance information 32, for one or more graphics images so that certain portions of the graphics data are partitioned into a plurality of partitions Or < / RTI > For example, as will be described in greater detail below, the partitioning module 27 analyzes one or more polygons used to generate graphics images for display on the display device 24, and determines which polygons Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > partitions. ≪ / RTI >

The storage medium 26 further includes a navigation module 29 that may also be executed by the processors 22. During execution, the simulation application 28 may use the navigation module 29 to display the navigation controller on the display device. A user, such as an application developer, may interact with the navigation controller to view a modified perspective view of the graphics images within the scene being displayed on the display device 24. The partitioning module 27 may then graphically display the graphic representation of the partitions overlaying the modified perspective view of the graphics images, thereby transforming the modified scene. The partitioning module 27 may then also analyze one or more polygons used to generate the graphics images in the modified perspective view to determine which of the polygons may span across the plurality of partitions have.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating certain details of graphics processing system 4, graphics driver 18, and application computing device 20 shown in FIG. 1, according to an aspect. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the application computing device 20 is coupled to the graphics processing system 4 of the device 2. However, this is only shown for illustrative purposes. In other scenarios, the application computing device 20 may be coupled to a number of other types of graphics processing systems and devices.

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 (not shown) 16). The control processor 10 may control any of the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, or the display processor 16. In many cases, these processors 10, 12, 14, and 16 may be part of the graphics processing pipeline in system 4. [

The control processor 10 may control one or more aspects of the flow of data or instruction execution via the pipeline and may also provide geometry information for the graphics image to the vertex processor 14. [ Vertex processor 14 may manage vertex transformation or geometry processing of a graphics image, which may be described or defined in terms of primitive geometry in accordance with multiple vertices. The vertex processor 14 may provide its output to the graphics processor 12, which may perform rendering or rasterizing operations on the graphics image. The graphics processor 12 may provide its output to the display processor 16, which prepares the graphics image in pixel form for display. In addition, the graphics processor 12 may perform various operations on the pixel data, such as shading or scaling.

Often, graphics image data may be processed in this processing pipeline during execution of graphics instructions 30, which may be part of application instructions 21 (Figure 1). As a result, the graphics instructions 30 may be executed by one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16. Typically, application developers may not have much knowledge or control over which particular ones of the graphics instructions 30 within the graphics processing system 4 will execute graphics instructions.

In some cases, one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16 may have performance issues during execution of the graphics instructions 30, Or serve as possible bottlenecks in the processing pipeline. In these cases, overall performance in the graphics processing system 4 may be degraded, and the application developer may wish to change the graphics instructions 30 to improve performance. However, it may not be necessary for the developer to be aware of which of the processors 10, 12, 14, or 16 may be processors with performance issues. For example, these performance issues may include issues related to processor use or use for one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16.

In particular, binning-based operations in which primitive graphics data is partitioned across multiple binning partitions before rendering may often generate certain performance issues. For example, if a polygon spans across two different partitions (e.g., partitions 136 and 138 shown in FIG. 5A) (such as triangle 146 shown in the example of FIG. 5A) (E.g., fragments 146A and 146B shown in FIG. 5B) may be partitioned into two configuration fragments, one for each partition of the image data, and then the two configuration fragments Lt; / RTI > may be rendered independently. These two separate graphics images may then need to be combined before displaying to produce a visual representation of the triangle 146. Independent rendering operations for the two fragments of the triangle 146, along with the joining operation for two related graphics images, can result in performance overhead.

To aid in the problem of identifying performance bottlenecks and possible solutions, the graphics driver 18A of the graphics device 2 receives the graphics instructions 30 from the graphics processing system 4, Capture, or gather and route them to the application computing device 20. The graphics driver 18A is a part of the graphics drivers 18 shown in Fig. The graphics driver 18A may be loaded and executed by one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16. The graphics driver 18A may also collect status and / or performance information 32 from one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16, Information 32 may be routed to the application computing device 20 as well. In one aspect, the graphics driver 18A may include an OpenGL ES driver if the graphics instructions 30 include binary instructions that may have been generated or compiled from OpenGL ES API instructions.

Various types of status data may be included in the status / performance information 32. For example, the state data may be used during execution of the graphics instructions 30, or may include graphics data associated with the graphics instructions 30, if not. The state data may be related to a vertex array such as position, color, coordinates, size, or weight data. The state data may include texture state data, point state data, line state data, polygon state data, culling state data, alpha test state data, blending state data, depth state data, stencil state data, And may further include color state data. As previously described, 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.

In addition, various types of performance data may be included in the state / performance information 32. In general, performance data may include metrics or hardware counter data from one or more of control processor 10, vertex processor 14, graphics processor 12, and display processor 16. The performance data may include a frame rate or cycle data. The cycle data may include data on profiling, command errors, vertex and index data, or cycles used for other operations. In various aspects, various forms of status and performance data may be included in the status / performance information 32 collected from the graphics processing system 4 by the graphics driver 18A.

As previously described, the application computing device 20 may display a representation of the graphics image, in accordance with the received graphics instructions 30 and the status / performance information 32. In addition, the application computing device 20 may display a visual representation of the status / performance information 32. By viewing and interacting with the regenerated graphics images and / or visual representations of the state / performance information 32, the application developer can view the graphics processing system 4 of the graphics device 2 during execution of the graphics instructions 30, It may be possible to quickly identify and resolve performance issues within the system. For example, an application developer may be able to identify which of the processors 10, 12, 14, and / or 16 may have performance issues.

The graphics driver 18A also provides mapping and / or partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20. As described previously with reference to Figure 1, the partitioning module 27 processes the received mapping / partitioning information 33 to display the graphics image in a scene, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 24 < / RTI > Partitioning module 27 also uses mapping / partitioning information 33 to analyze graphics data that may be included in state / performance information 32 so that certain parts of the data are associated with multiple partitions of the partitions . The mapping / partitioning information 33 may include mapping information that maps graphics data, which may be used to generate one or more graphics images, to identified instructions within the graphics instructions 30. [

In an attempt to identify a countermeasure or solution to any identified performance issues, the developer may initiate one or more of the requested variations 34 on the application computing device 20. For example, the developer may interact with the representation of the state / performance information 32 or the regenerated image to generate the requested transformations 34. [ In some cases, the developer may directly change the state / performance information 32, as described in more detail below, to generate the requested transformations 34. [ In certain cases, the requested variants 34 may be implemented as one or more requests to disable the execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 in the graphics processing system 4 of the graphics device 2, May include requests to modify one or more of the instructions (30).

In some cases, the user may interact with the navigation controller displayed on the 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 this navigation controller and its interaction with the navigation controller. Any requests entered by the user via the user interface may be included in the requested transformations 34. [ For example, these requests may include 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 images in the scene It is possible.

The requested variants 34 are sent from the application computing device 20 to the graphics driver 18A and the graphics driver 18A handles requests for the graphics device 2 during operation. The requested variants 34 may be implemented within one or more of the processors 10, 12, 14, or 16 within the graphics processing system 4 during execution of the graphics instructions 30. For example, And may include requests to transform state information that may include data. The graphics driver 18A may then implement changes within the graphics processing system 4 included within the requested transformations 34. [ These changes may change the flow of execution between processors 10, 12, 14, and / or 16 for execution of graphics instructions 30. [ In certain instances, one or more of the graphics instructions 30 may be disabled during execution in the graphics processing system 4 in accordance with the requested transformations 34. [

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

The application computing device 20 may use the updated instructions / information 35 to display an updated representation of the graphics image, as well as a visual representation of the updated instructions / information 35. The application developer may then be able to assess whether previously identified performance issues have been resolved or otherwise addressed. For example, the application developer can analyze the visual representation of the updated image as well as the updated instructions / information 35 to determine if certain textures, polygons, or other features have been optimized, or other performance parameters It may be determined whether it has improved.

The updated instructions / information 35 may also include updated mapping and / or partitioning information, such as updated mappings of graphics data to instructions also included in the instructions / When the updated perspective view of the scene is displayed on the display device 24 as a result of updated instructions / information 35, the partitioning module 27 overlays the modified perspective view and graphically splits the modified scene Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > partitioned < / RTI > In addition, the partitioning module 27 may analyze the graphics data for the modified perspective view (which may also be included in the updated instructions / information 35) to determine which portions of the graphics data correspond to multiple partitions Or < / RTI > The partitions may be determined based on rendering operations performed on the graphics data.

In such a manner, the application developer can quickly and effectively debug or otherwise execute the execution of the graphics instructions 30 within the environment on the application computing device 20 that simulates the operation of the graphics processing system 4 on the graphics device 2 It may be possible to analyze it. The developer repeatedly interacts with the displayed image and state / performance information on the application computing device 20 to analyze the performance of graphics instructions 30 by analyzing multiple graphics images in a scene or multiple image frames It can also be maximized. Examples of such interaction and displayed information on the application computing device 20 will be presented in more detail below.

3 is a flow diagram illustrating additional details of operations that may be performed by control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14, and display processor 16, in accordance with an aspect. 3 also shows operations for the frame buffer storage unit 100 and the display 102. As shown in FIG. In one aspect, the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and / or the display processor 16 perform various operations as a result of the execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30.

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

The vertex processor 14 may then obtain geometry information for certain primitives provided by the control processor and / or stored in the buffers 15, for processing at 92. In certain cases, the vertex processor 14 may manage the vertex transformation of the geometry information. In certain instances, the vertex processor 14 may perform lighting operations on geometry information.

The vertex processor 14 may provide its output to the graphics processor 12, which may perform rendering or rasterizing operations on the data at 94. The graphics processor 12 may provide its output to the display processor 16, which prepares one or more graphics images in pixel form for display. In some cases, the graphics processor 12 may separate graphics data for geometry, such as one or more polygons, based on the determined binning partitions. One or more of the processors in the graphics device 2, such as the graphics processor 12, may be configured to display different (or different) And may create multiple binning partitions associated with screen areas. In the case where a particular geometry (e.g., a triangle) spans across multiple partitions, the graphics processor may separate the geometry into fragments along the partition boundaries, and render the fragments independently. In some cases, the graphics processor 12 may provide mapping / partitioning information 33 to the application computing device 20 based on the number, type, size, shape, etc. of the determined partitions.

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

The display processor 16 provides output pixel information for storage in a frame buffer at 100. [ In some cases, the frame buffer may be included in buffers 15 (Figure 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 that can be displayed, for example, on the display device 6 at 102.

The graphics instructions 30 may be executed by one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16, as previously described. Typically, application developers may not have much knowledge or control over which of the graphics processors 30 execute certain graphics instructions within the graphics processing system 4. In certain instances, one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16 may, during execution of the graphics instructions 30, Serve as bottlenecks, or have performance issues.

It may often be difficult for an application developer to determine the location of bottlenecks, or how to best resolve or mitigate the effects of those bottlenecks. Thus, in one aspect, graphics instructions 30 and / or status information may be provided from the graphics device 2 to an external computing device, such as the application computing device 20. The state information may be stored in the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display 14 for various operations, such as those shown in Figure 3, that occur during the execution of the graphics instructions 30. [ The processor 16 may include data from one or more of. The application computing device 20 may generate a graphics image represented on the device 2 to assist in identifying and resolving bottlenecks in an efficient and effective manner. In addition, the application computing device 20 may display the partitioning information, analyze the graphics data for one or more geometries, and determine which portions of the data are associated with the plurality of partitions of the partitions.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating additional details of the graphics driver 18A shown in FIG. 2, in accordance with an aspect. As previously described, the graphics driver 18A may be coupled to the graphics processing system (e.g., by one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16) 4), and may be part of the graphics drivers 18. Execution of the graphics driver 18A allows the graphics processing system 4 to communicate with the application computing device 20. In one aspect, the graphics driver 18A may include instructions that may be executed within the graphics processing system 54, and may be part of the graphics drivers 68. [

The graphics driver 18A may include a transport interface 110, a processor usage module 112, a hardware counter module 114, a status / performance data module (e.g., 116, an API trace module 118, and an override module 120, as shown in FIG. The graphics driver 18A communicates with the application computing device 20 using the transfer interface module 110. [

The processor usage module 112 collects and maintains processor usage information for one or more of the control processor 10, the vertex processor 14, the graphics processor 12, and the display processor 16. The processor usage information may include processor cycles and / or performance information. The cycle data may include data on profiling, command arrays, vertex and index data, or 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 instances, the processor usage module 112 provides process usage information to the device 20 when receiving process usage information in an asynchronous manner. In other instances, the processor usage module 112 may provide information upon receipt of a request from the 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, the graphics processor 12, the vertex processor 14, or the display processor 16. The counters may track various status 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 status / performance data module 116 may be used to determine the status and / or performance of one or more of the control processor 10, the graphics processor 12, the vertex processor 14, and the display processor 16 in the graphics processing system 4, / / Collect and maintain performance data. For example, in some cases, the status data may include graphics data. The state data may include data related to the vertex array, such as 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, blending state data, depth state data, stencil state data, or color state data . The performance data may include various other metrics or cycle data. The status / 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, the graphics processor 12, the vertex processor 14, and the display processor 16, In addition, information from the graphics data mapping information 23 (FIG. 1) may be collected. The mapping information may include information for mapping identified portions of graphics data rendered to generate graphics images for display to one or more of graphics instructions 30. [ This mapping information may be useful for mapping individual instructions into original graphics data that was used to render the output images. The partitioning information may include information identifying the number, type, size, shape, and the like of the partitions created and used in the graphics processing system 4 when separating the graphics data into constituent fragments before rendering. 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 transmitted to the application computing device 20 via the transfer interface module 110. The graphics device 2 provides a copy of the graphics instructions 30 executed by the graphics processing system 4 to the device 20 at the processing parity line of the graphics processing system 4, do. API trace module 118 manages the capture and transmission of these graphics instructions 30. [ The API trace module 118 also provides specific information to be used with the command mapping information 31 (Figure 1) to determine whether the graphics instructions 30 were used to generate the graphics instructions 30 Or may be mapped to a visual representation of graphics instructions 30, such as API commands.

The override module 120 allows the graphics driver 18A to change or override the execution of certain instructions in the graphics processing system 4. [ As previously described, the application computing device 20 may send one or more requested variations, such as transformations 34, to the graphics device 2. In certain instances, the requested variants 34 may include one or more requests for disabling the execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 in the graphics processing system 4, And may include requests to transform more than one. In some cases, the requested variants 34 may include requests to change state / performance information 32. In some cases,

The override module 120 may also accept and process the requested transformations 34. [ For example, the override module 120 may receive from the device 20 any requests to modify one or more of the graphics instructions 30, along with any requests to modify the state / performance information 32 And send those requests to the graphics processing system 4. One or more of the control processor 10, the graphics processor 12, the vertex processor 14, and the 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 for processing to the application computing device 20, as previously described.

In this way, the graphics driver 18A provides an interface between the graphics device 2 and the application computing device 20. The graphics driver 18A is capable of providing the graphics commands and status / performance information 32 to the application computing device 20 and also receiving the requested modifications 34 from the application computing device 20 . After processing such requested variants 34, the graphics driver 18A can subsequently provide updated instructions / information 35 to the application computing device 20. [

Figure 5A is a graphical representation of a screen area 130 provided by a display device such as the display device 24 of the application computing device 20 or the display device 6 of the graphics device 2 in Figure 1, Is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first example of graphics data that may span across. In some cases, the data shown in Fig. 5A may be displayed on the display device 6. Fig. In one aspect, the data shown in FIG. 5A is based on the state / performance information 32 received from the graphics device 2 and also the mapping / partitioning information 33 received from the graphics device 2, Is graphically represented on the display device 24 of the device 20. The state / performance information 32 may include graphics data for the polygons (i.e., geometry) 140, 142, 144, and 146 and the mapping / partitioning information 33 may include partitions 132, , 136, and 138, respectively. For example, the mapping / partitioning information 33 received by the application computing device 20 may be used by the graphics device 2 to render graphics data in the form of four It may also indicate the use of separate partitions.

In the example of FIG. 5A, four binning partitions 132, 134, 136, and 138 are implemented. These partitions represent four corresponding areas within the screen area 130 that may be displayed on the display device 6 or the display device 24. [ As can be seen, polygons 140 and 142 are each defined by application instructions 21 (FIG. 1) to be fully located or placed within the corresponding partitions. The polygon 140 is located in the partition 132 and the polygon 142 is located in the partition 134. For example, when rendering graphics data, the graphics processor 12 may render data within each of the partitions 132, 134, 136, and 138 separately and during independent rendering operations. Because polygon 140 is entirely within partition 132, polygon 140 may be rendered as complete geometry during the rendering operation associated with partition 132. Likewise, since polygon 142 is entirely within partition 134, polygon 142 may be rendered as complete geometry during rendering operations associated with partition 134.

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

After these fragments 144A, 144B, 144C, and 144D are independently rendered, the display processor 16 combines the rendered images for each of these fragments to display an accurate graphical representation of the polygon 144 It may be necessary. These individual rendering and combining operations may result in performance overhead.

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

In some instances, the information shown in Figures 5A and 5B may be displayed on the display device 24 of the application computing device 20. The application computing device 20 uses the graphics commands 30 and state / performance information 32 to generate polygons 140, 142, 144, and 146 in the screen region 130 of the display device 24. [ Or display graphics images. The application computing device 20 also uses the mapping / partitioning information 33 to create a graphical representation of the partitions 132, 134, 136, and 138 that overlay the graphics images and graphically partition the scene of these images Display. The application computing device 20 may also analyze the graphics data for the polygons 140,142, 144,146 to determine which of the polygons are partitions 132,134, 136, and / or 138 It may be determined whether spanning across multiple partitions.

In the case where an application developer views information displayed in window 130, the developer can determine which polygons may be separated by hardware because polygons span across multiple partitions, and also where they are located Can be obtained. The developer may use the information to determine the optimal configuration or location of a particular graphics data within a graphics application, such as an application using application commands 21 (Figure 1), when defining a scene have. For example, when reviewing the information presented in FIG. 5A, the developer may decide to rearrange or reconfigure polygons 144 and 146 so that polygons 144 and 146 do not span across multiple partitions have.

Since the representation of partitions that overlay the graphics images within window 130 is presented to the developer, when the partitions are defined by the graphics device 2, the developer can define how the polygons 144 and 146 are defined, The polygons 144 and 146 may not span across multiple partitions or the polygons 144 and 146 may be spanned across a minimal number of partitions . In some cases, the developer may decide to redefine the polygons as sub-polygons, so that the polygons may not need to be combined by the display processor 16 after rendering. For example, the developer may redefine polygon 146 in a modified version of application instructions 21 as two separate polygons 146A and 146B, as shown in FIG. 5B. If these polygons are initially defined separately, then the rendered versions of these polygons may not need to be combined before display, which may reduce performance overhead.

Figure 6 illustrates a screen area 150 (shown in Figure 1) provided by a display device 24 (at the application computing device 20) or a display device 6 (at the graphics device 2) ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 8 < / RTI > As described previously, the graphics processing system 4 of the graphics device 2 may be implemented in a variety of different shapes, such as memory size requirements or constraints, that may rely on various factors or other performance considerations, Sizes, and types of display devices 6 associated with the screen area. In the second example of FIG. 6, one or more of the processors 10,12, 14, or 16 may be used to create and use eight separate partitions instead of the four partitions shown in the examples in FIGS. 5A and 5B You can decide.

Within the screen area 150, the eight partitions are partitions 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164, and 166. Each of these partitions is square in shape. For purposes of illustration, if the screen area 150 is substantially the same size as the screen area 130 (Figs. 5A and 5B) and the area, each partition shown in Fig. 6 is shown in Figs. 5A and 5B It is half the size of each partition shown.

In the example of FIG. 6, application instructions 21 may be executed again to generate and / or render polygons 140, 142, 144, and 146. In Figures 5A and 5B, if only four partitions were used, the polygons 140 and 142 would not span across multiple partitions. Thus, in the case where the graphics device 2 implements only four binning partitions, the graphics application containing the application instructions 21 will not be able to span multiple partitions because the polygons 140 and 142 do not span across multiple partitions, It may not experience any additional performance overhead resulting from the rendering of polygons 140 and 142. 6, polygons 140 and 140 span over two separate partitions, respectively, when graphics device 2 implements eight binning partitions-polygon 140 is a polygon, While spanning across partitions 152 and 154, polygon 142 spans across partitions 156 and 158.

In one aspect, a graphical representation of the partitions 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164, and 166 may be displayed to the application developer on the display device 24. Graphics display of such partitions that overlay graphics images, such as representations of polygons 140, 142, 144, and 146, may be quite useful to the developer. Often, the developer will have little or no information or idea about the number, type, shape, size, etc. of the partitions created and used by any individual device, such as graphics device 2. By being able to view a graphical representation of such partitions overlaid on the graphics images in the scene, the developer can, for example, have certain graphics images or primitive graphics data spanned across multiple partitions, Obtain a better idea of whether you have overhead. As a result, the developer may be able to redefine, reconfigure, resize, or otherwise change the graphics data generated and manipulated by the graphics application, such as including application instructions 21. [

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by an application computing device 20 through execution of a simulation application 28 (FIG. 1) in accordance with an aspect. The application computing device 20 may receive the mapping / partitioning information 33 from an external graphics device such as the graphics device 2 (170). In addition, the application computing device 20 may receive graphics instructions 30 from the graphics device 2 (172). Graphics instructions 30 are executed by the graphics device 2 to display one or more graphics images, such as three-dimensional (3D) graphics images, on a display device 6. In one aspect, graphics instructions 30 include a call stream that, when executed, renders graphics images. In an aspect, the call stream includes binary instructions generated from application programming interface (API) instructions.

The application computing device 20 may also receive status and / or performance information 32 from the graphics device 2 (174). The state / performance information 32 is associated with the execution of the graphics instructions 30 on the graphics device 2. The status / performance information 32 may include status information indicating one or more states of the graphics device 2 as the graphics device 2 renders the graphics image. The state information may be stored in one or more of the processors 2 of the graphics device 2 executing graphics instructions 30, such as control processor 10, graphics processor 12, vertex processor 14, and / Lt; / RTI > In some cases, the state information may include graphics data, such as primitive polygon data used by the graphics processor 12 to render the graphics image data.

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

The application computing device 20 may display a graphical representation of the partitions overlaying the graphics images and partitioning the scene graphically (178). For example, in one scenario, the application computing device 20 may display a graphical representation of the partitions shown in Figures 5A and 5B. In some cases, partitions may include rectangular partitions. The application computing device 20 may display a graphical representation of the partitions based on the received mapping / partitioning information 33. [

In addition, the application computing device 20 may analyze the graphics data for the displayed graphics images to determine which portions are associated with multiple partitions (180). For example, the application computing device 20 may analyze graphics primitives, such as polygon data used to create or render graphics images, and determine which polygons (e.g., triangles) span across the plurality of partitions It is possible.

Analysis of the reception of graphics commands 172, reception of status information 174, display of a representation of graphics images 176, display of partitions 178, and graphics data 180 may result in the presence of more frames to be processed , It may be repeated for multiple image frames of one or more graphics images. In this manner, the application computing device 20 can display both still and moving graphics images (including 3D images) on the display device 24, and can overlay the images and display partitions A graphical representation can be displayed. Since the graphics images change or alternate perspective views of the images are shown, the application developer can constantly check the relationship between the graphics data associated with the images and the location of the partitions.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by an application computing device 20 via execution of a simulation application 28 (FIG. 1) in accordance with an aspect. In an aspect, the processors 22 may execute the simulation application 28 to display the navigation controller on the display device 24. [

The application computing device 20 may receive mapping / partitioning information 33 from an external graphics device, such as graphics device 2 (190). In addition, the application computing device 20 may display a perspective view of one or more graphics images on the display device 24 of the application computing device 20 (191). For example, the application computing device 20 may display a perspective view of the graphics images based on the received graphics instructions 30 and / or status / performance information 32.

The application computing device 20 may display a graphics representation of the partitions overlaying the graphics images on the display device 24 based on the received mapping / partitioning information 33 (192). In addition, the application computing device 20 may analyze the graphics data for graphics images, such as graphics data contained within the state / performance information 32, to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with multiple of the partitions . For example, the graphics data may include a plurality of graphics primitives, such as triangles. The application computing device 20 may determine 193 which triangles of the triangles span multiple partitions of the partitions. These triangles may include triangles rendered at least partially in a plurality of partitions.

In one aspect, the application computing device 20 displays a graphical representation of the triangles spanning across multiple partitions of the partitions on the display device 24, along with displaying a graphical representation of the partitions. In some instances, the application computing device 20 may display graphical representations such as color (194) for each triangle spanning across multiple partitions.

For example, in one aspect, the application computing device 20 displays a "heat map" representation of the triangles on the display device 24, where each triangle has an associated graphics indicator, such as color. In addition to color, other types of graphical indicators (e.g., dotted lines, blinking indicators, highlighted indicators) may be used in certain scenarios to distinguish the triangles from one another. Triangles that do not span across multiple partitions may be displayed in one color (e.g., blue). Triangles spanning across multiple partitions (e.g., two and three partitions) may be displayed in a second color (e.g., purple). Triangles spanning across more than three partitions may be displayed prominently with a third color (e.g., red). Thus, in this example, an application developer can quickly determine which triangles span across multiple partitions, and which triangles span more partitions than other triangles. Using this information, the developer may be able to reduce performance (e.g., rendering) overhead by determining how to reconstruct, redefine, or otherwise rebuild triangles spanning across multiple partitions have.

The application computing device 20 may use the navigation module 29 (Figure 1) to display the navigation controller within 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 around the scene of the graphics images 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 images (195).

The application computing device 20 may then display a modified perspective view of the graphics images in the modified graphics scene based on user input to the navigation controller. For example, the developer may interact with the navigation controller to rotate the scene of the images, zoom in or out of the scene, or otherwise change the perspective view of the scene, A modified perspective view of the images within the modified scene may be displayed. The user input provided to the navigation controller may be transmitted to the graphics device 2 as the requested variants 34 and the display of the updated perspective view may be provided to the application computing device 20 by the graphics device 2 May be based on updated instructions / information 35. In one aspect, the requested variants 34 include a request to disable execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 on the graphics device 2, a request to disable execution of one or more of the graphics instructions 30 on the graphics device 2, A request to modify one or more of the graphics device 2, and a request to modify the state / performance information 32 on the graphics device 2.

In one aspect, the application computing device 20 may also display a graphical representation of the partitions that overlay the modified perspective view of the graphics images and graphically partition the modified scene. The application computing device 20 may analyze the graphics data for the modified perspective view of the graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with multiple of the partitions.

Display 191 of the perspective view of the graphics image (s), display 192 of partitions overlaying the graphics image (s), determining 193 which primitive triangle (s) spans across the plurality of partitions, A display 194 of a graphical representation of each determined triangle, and receiving user input via the navigation controller to modify the perspective view of the scene 195 may be repeated for multiple perspective views of the scene (196). Because the graphics images change or alternate perspective views of the images are shown, the application developer can constantly check the relationship between the graphics data associated with the images and the location of the partitions.

9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a graphics device 200 coupled to a display device 201 for displaying information in a graphics window 203 according to an aspect. For example, if the graphics device 200 is part of the graphics device 2 (Figure 1), the display device 201 may be part of the graphics device 24 at the application computing device 20. The graphics device 200 can display the 3D graphics image 202. [ The display device 201 can display within the window 203 a 3D graphics image 210 that is playable of the graphics image 202 based on the graphics commands and status / performance information sent from the graphics device 200 have. The display device 201 may also be configured to allow the developer to modify these commands and information to modify the entire scene including the graphics image 210 or the graphics image 210, Expressions can be displayed. The display device 201 may be included in any type of computing device (not shown) coupled to the graphics device 200 and may receive such commands and status / performance information from the graphics device 200. (For purposes of simplification, the computing device including the display device 201 is excluded from the conceptual diagram shown in FIG. 10).

As previously described, the graphics device 200 may display a 3D graphics image 202 (which is a cube in the example of FIG. 9). In the example of FIG. 9, the graphics device 200 also has a keypad 204. The user may interact with the keypad 204 to manipulate the graphics device 200. The keypad 204 may include a plurality of keys and / or buttons. The graphics device 200 can send graphics commands and status / performance information to a device (e.g., an application computing device 20) that includes the graphics device 201 via the connector 206. [ In an aspect, the connector 206 includes a universal serial bus (USB) connector. In other aspects, different types of connectors may be used. In some aspects, the wireless communication may replace the connector 206.

As shown in the example of FIG. 9, the display device 201 may display various types of information within the graphical user interface. In this example, the display device 201 displays the graphics window 203 within the graphical user interface. The window 203 includes a display area 211, a graphics command area 208, and a status / performance information area 214. Display area 211 includes a 3D graphics image 210 that is playable in 3D graphics image 202 as previously described. In this example, the 3D graphics image includes a cube. According to one aspect, the information displayed on the display device 201 includes a representation or simulation of the information displayed on the graphics device 202 for debugging and testing purposes.

The graphics command area 208 contains a visual representation of one or more graphics instructions received from the graphics device 200. As previously described, a visual representation of such instructions may include a representation of such instructions. For example, in the case where the graphics device 200 transmits binary graphics instructions, the display device 201 may display such binary instructions in other forms, such as high-level application programming interface (API) instructions (e.g., OpenGL commands) Lt; / RTI > The mapping information (such as the mapping information 31 shown in FIG. 1) may be used to map binary instructions received in a different format that may be displayed in the graphics command area 208.

The state / performance information area 214 includes a visual representation of the status and / or performance information received from the graphics device 200. The received graphics commands and status / performance information may be used to display the 3D graphics image 210 within the display area. In an aspect, the graphics device 200 may provide various status and / or performance data using a graphics driver that implements the status / performance data module (such as the status / performance data module 116 shown in FIG. 4) You may. The received state / performance information may include graphics data (e.g., primitive data and / or rasterized data).

In addition, window 203 includes one or more selectors 212A through 212N. The user may select any of these selectors 212A through 212N. Each selector 212A through 212N may be associated with different functions, such as statistical and navigation functions, as will be described in more detail below. Window 203 further includes selectors 216A through 216N and 218A through 218N, each of which may be selected by the user. Each selector 216A through 216N and 218A through 218N may also be associated with different functions such as metric functions, override functions, and / or texture functions, as will be described in more detail below with reference to Fig. .

A user, such as an application developer, may change the information displayed in window 203. For example, the user may modify one or more of the instructions displayed in the graphics command area 208, or any of the status / performance information in the status / performance information area 214. [

Any changes initiated by the user in the window 203 may then be transmitted to the graphics device 200 as the requested variants. The graphics device 200 may then process these variants and provide updated instructions and / or information that may be displayed within the graphics command area 208 and / or the state / performance information area 214 have. In addition, updated instructions and / or information may be used to display a modified version of the 3D graphics image 210 within the display area 211. [

In one aspect, state and / or performance information, which may be displayed in area 214, may be used to identify bottlenecks possible during execution of graphics instructions on graphics device 200 (such as application computing May be analyzed by a computing device comprising a display device 201 (e.g., device 20). As a result, a user, such as an application developer, may want to view the information presented in the window 203 during the debugging process to optimize the execution of graphics instructions on the graphics device 200. As previously described, bottlenecks may be introduced anywhere within the graphics processing pipeline in graphics device 200, and it may be difficult for an application developer to isolate such bottlenecks for performance optimization. Through analysis of the state and / or performance information, possible bottlenecks and possible alternatives are determined in the window 203, for example in one or more sub-windows or pop-up windows, or in the area 214 of the window 203 ≪ / RTI >

In one aspect, the window 203 may display a report of encountered bottlenecks in the call stream of graphics commands received from the graphics device 200, and may also display possible alternatives. In some cases, these possible alternatives may be presented to the user as "what-if" scenarios. For example, rendering a non-optimized triangle-list in the call stream may be presented as one possible scenario, while pre-processing the list through a triangle-strip optimization framework is presented as a second possible scenario . The user may select any of these possible alternative scenarios as the requested variants and then the requested variants are transmitted to the graphics device 200 and the performance may be measured at the graphics device 200. [ The graphics device 200 then sends updated instructions / information that may be presented in the graphics command area 208 and / or the state / performance information area 214. The user can then view the results and compare the results for a variety of different possible alternatives to identify the optimal solution. The user can use this process to quickly identify a set of steps that can be taken to remove bottlenecks from their applications.

The user may repeatedly continue to make adjustments within the window 203 for purposes of testing or trial / error debugging. The user may examine a variety of different forms or combinations of graphics commands and state / performance information to identify changes in the images or scenes being displayed within the display area 211. The user can use the simulation environment provided by the contents of the window 203 to recompile any source code on the graphics device 200 and use the state provided by the graphics device 200 without having to redo the compiled code And graphics commands that may be part of the call stream.

In some instances, the user may manipulate one or more of the buttons 212A through 212N to manipulate the perspective view of the graphics image 210 by manipulating a graphical navigation controller, such as a graphics camera. Such an operation may be captured as the requested variants to be transmitted to the graphics device 200. The updated instructions / information provided by the graphics device 200 are then used to transform the perspective view of the graphics image 210.

In some cases, various texture and / or status information may be provided in the area 214 of the window 203 as deformable entities. Also, for example, the user may select pixels of the graphics image 210 within the display area 211, such that one or more corresponding instructions within the graphics command area 208 are identified. In this manner, the user can effectively re-practice reverse in the rendering command or call that was used to render or create pixels or other portions of the graphics image 210. Because the graphics device 201 may regenerate the image 210 in the window 203 as exactly shown on the graphics device 200, the user can quickly isolate the issues in these applications 208), and may modify any of the states in the state / performance area 214 to create a prototype of new effects.

In one aspect, the display device 201 may also display partitioning information, as well as polygon data that may span across multiple partitions. For example, the application developer may select a button, such as one of the buttons 212A through 212N, to cause the display device 201 to display the partitions that overlay the image 210 and graphically partition the scene in the display area 211 To display a graphical representation (e.g., rectangular partitions). In some cases, if the device 200 is part of the graphics device 2, the displayed partitions may be based on the received mapping / partitioning information 33 (FIG. 1). The device including the display device 201 may also analyze the graphics data (e.g., polygon data) for the graphics image 210 to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with multiple of the partitions have. For example, if a number of polygons were used to render the graphics image 210, the device may analyze the polygons to determine which of the polygons spans across the plurality of partitions.

10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another example of a graphics device 200 coupled to a display device 201 that displays information within a graphics window 220 according to an aspect. In this aspect, window 220 includes metric information as well as various command information.

For example, within graphics command area 208, various graphics commands 242 are shown. The graphics instructions 242 may be a subset of the graphics instructions provided by the graphics device 200. For example, if the graphics device 200 is part of the graphics device 2, the graphics instructions 242 may be a subset of the graphics instructions 30. In some cases, the mapping information (such as the mapping information 31 shown in FIG. 1) may include incoming instructions received from the graphics device 200, instructions 242 being displayed in the graphics command area 208, Lt; / RTI > may be used to map to a visual representation of these instructions embodied as < RTI ID = 0.0 > For example, if the received instructions are in binary form, instructions 242 may include API instructions that were used to generate instructions in binary form.

As shown in the example of FIG. 10, graphics instructions 242 include both high-level commands and low-level commands. A user, such as an application developer, may use the scroll bar 244 to view a full set of commands 242. Certain high-level instructions may include one or more low-level instructions, such as low-level API instructions. In some cases, an application developer may be able to access a particular high-level instruction (e.g., by clicking on a particular high-level instruction) to view any low-level instructions that are part of an associated high- ). The received graphics instructions such as instructions 242 may be used to generate a representation of the graphics image 202 that includes the graphics image 210 represented in the display area 211 of the window 220, Lt; / RTI >

Various selection buttons are shown below the status / performance information area 214 in FIG. These select 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. Upon selection of this button, various metric options may be displayed. For example, one or more of the metric buttons 234A-234N may be displayed on the status / 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 predefined or preconfigured metric types, and in some cases, an application developer may select or customize one or more of the metrics. Exemplary metrics may include 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, and fragments per second. The application developer may select any of the metric buttons 234A-234N to view additional details about the selected metrics.

For example, if the metric button 234A is associated with a number of frames per second, the application developer may select the metric button 234A to provide additional details about the number of frames per second (relative to performance) for the graphics image 210 View portions of the graphics image 210, or portions of the graphics image 210. In some cases, the developer may select the metric button 234A, or may drag the metric button 234A into the status / performance information area 214. [ Detailed information about the number of frames per second may be displayed within 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 the graphics image 210 after selecting the metric button 234A, and then the detailed information about the number of frames per second for the selected portion is stored in the state / performance information area 214 May be displayed. In such a manner, the developer may generate performance data for any number of different metric types based on the selection of one or more of the metric buttons 234A-234N and the possible selection of the graphics image 210 (or portion thereof) You can also view it.

In one aspect, metric data that may be displayed in window 220 may be provided by a graphics driver (e.g., graphics driver 18 shown in FIG. 4) of graphics device 200. The graphics driver may implement the hardware counter module (e.g., the hardware counter module 114 of FIG. 4) and / or the processor usage module (e.g., the processor usage module 112 of FIG. 4) And may provide various data that may be displayed as < RTI ID = 0.0 >

In some cases, the developer may select the texture button 236. Various types of texture information associated with the graphics image 210 may be displayed by the graphics device 201 when selected. For example, the texture information may be displayed within the window 220, e.g., in the state / performance information area 214. In some cases, the texture information may be displayed within an additional (e.g., pop-up) window (not shown). The developer may view the displayed texture information, but in some cases, the texture information may also be modified. In these cases, any modifications to the texture information may be propagated to the graphics device 200 as the requested variants. Upon receiving updated instructions / information from the graphics device 200, changes to the graphics images 210 may be displayed in the display area 211. FIG. 11 includes specific texture information that may be displayed upon selection of the texture button 236. FIG.

In some cases, the developer may also select an override button 238. [ After selection of the override button 238, specific information such as instructions and / or status information, which may be modified or overridden by the developer, may be displayed (e.g., within the window 220 or other window). Any variations or overrides may be included in one or more requested variations sent to the graphics device 200. [ In an aspect, the graphics device 200 may implement a graphics driver such as the graphics driver 18A (FIG. 4) to process any requested variations. For example, the graphics device 200 may use the override module 120 to process such requested modifications, including one or more overrides.

In some cases, the developer may override one or more graphics instructions 242 represented in the graphics command area 208. [ In these cases, the developer may modify or override one or more of the graphics instructions 242 by typing or otherwise entering information within the graphics command area 208. [ These variants may then be transmitted to the graphics device 200 and the graphics device 200 may provide updated instructions / information to update the display of the graphics image 210 within the display area 211 will be. For example, the developer may override one or more functions provided by the instructions 242, changing the parameters, order, type, etc. of the graphics instructions 242. In one aspect, the mapping information 31 (Figure 1) may be used to map changes to graphics instructions 242 to corresponding instructions (e.g., binary instructions) in other formats that may be provided to the graphics device 200 Mapping, or converting.

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

The window 220 further includes select buttons 231 and 232. [ The select button 231 is a partition button, and the select button 232 is a navigation button. The developer may select the partition button 231 to view a graphical representation of partitions such as rectangular partitions that overlay the graphics image 210 and graphically divide the scene being displayed in the display area 211. [ Upon user selection of the partition button 231, graphic partitions may be displayed in the display area 211.

In addition, the display area 211, or an individual display area or window, may display information based on an analysis of the graphics data for the graphics image 210 that determines which portions of the data are associated with the plurality of partitions It is possible. For example, the display area 211, or an individual display area or window, may display, along with a graphical representation of the partitions, which polygons used to render the graphics image 210 span across the plurality of partitions. In some cases, a graphical display such as color may be displayed for each polygon spanning across multiple partitions (e.g., a triangle).

For example, in an aspect, a "heat map" may be displayed in which each triangle is displayed in a particular color. Triangles that do not span across multiple partitions may be displayed in one color (e.g., blue). Triangles spanning across multiple partitions (e.g., two and three partitions) may be displayed in a second color (e.g., purple). Triangles spanning across more than three partitions may be displayed prominently with a third color (e.g., red). Thus, in this example, an application developer can quickly determine which triangles span across multiple partitions, and which triangles span more partitions than other triangles. The developer may use this information to determine the performance (e. G., The performance of the graphics image 210) when creating the graphics image 210 by determining how to reconstruct, redefine, or otherwise rebuild the triangles spanning across multiple partitions. Rendering) overhead.

The developer may also select the navigation button 232 to navigate within the display area 211 and possibly change the perspective view of the graphics image 210 within the display area 211. [ For example, at the time of selection of the navigation button 232, a 3D graphic camera or a navigation controller may be displayed. The developer may interact with the controller to navigate to any area within the display area 211. The developer may also use the controller to change the perspective view of the graphics image 210, e.g., by rotating or zooming in or out of the graphics image 210.

In one aspect, the selection of the navigation button 232 and any developer-initiated changes through interaction with the graphical navigation controller may cause the requested modifications (e.g., some of the requested variants 84 shown in Figure 1) To the graphics device 200 as shown in FIG. The updated instructions / information provided by the graphics device 200 may then be used to update the display (e.g., perspective view) of the graphics image 210. In addition, the updated instructions may be displayed within the graphics command area 208. The updated state / performance information may be displayed in the state / performance information area 214.

In one aspect, the graphics partitions may be displayed and overlaid on a modified perspective view of the graphics image 210. Further, the graphics data contained in the updated instructions / information for the modified perspective view of the graphics image 210 may be analyzed to determine which portions of the data are associated with multiple partitions.

As a result, the developer can effectively and efficiently determine how replacement points, orientations, views, etc., for rendering and displaying the graphics image 210 may affect the performance and state of the graphics device 200 have. This is accomplished by using graphics instructions 210 that are used to create and render a graphics image 202 that is displayed on a graphics device 210 and effectively on a graphics device 210 in a simulation environment displayed on a display device 201 It can be very useful for developers to optimize. In one aspect, any changes in the location, viewpoint, orientation, etc. of the graphics image 210 based on developer-initiated selections and controls within the window 220 may also be performed on the graphics device 200 during the testing process And may be represented as changes to the graphics image 202 that may be displayed.

Through interaction with the graphics window 220 within the graphical user interface, the application developer can generate graphics instructions (e.g., graphics commands) that are visual representations of graphics instructions executed by the graphics device 200 to create the graphics images 202 242 may be attempted to identify performance issues and / or bottlenecks during execution. The representation of the graphics image 202 (i.e., the graphics image 210) is displayed in the display area 211 based on the graphics commands 242 and status / performance data received by the graphics device 200 . By viewing graphics commands 242, graphics image 210 and state / performance information, as well as effects based on user-initiated transformations for one or more of them, the application developer can perform a trial-and-error or debugging process Interactively and dynamically engaged to optimize execution of instructions on the graphics device 200 and to eliminate or mitigate any performance issues (e.g., bottlenecks) during instruction execution.

In addition, a visual representation of a graphics scene that includes a number of different graphics partitions may allow the developer to identify portions of the graphics scene that exhibit reduced performance due to costs that may be associated with screen partitioning. The developer may review the partitioning and associated analysis information to assist in reducing these costs and / or associated performance overhead by examining alternate configurations of the scene.

The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented within a general purpose microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other equivalent logic devices. Thus, as used herein, the terms "processor" or "controller" may refer to any of the structures described above or any other structure suitable for implementation of the techniques described herein.

The various components illustrated herein may be implemented by any suitable combination of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. In the drawings, the various components are shown as separate units or modules. However, all or part of the various components described with reference to these figures may be combined into units or modules that are combined within common hardware and / or software. Thus, the representation of features as components, units, or modules is intended to be pointed to specific functional features highlighted for convenience of illustration and not required to be realized by individual hardware or software components. In some cases, the various units may be implemented as programmable processes performed by one or more processors.

Any of the features described herein as modules, devices, or components comprising the components of graphics device 100 and / or graphics device 100 may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or may be discrete Or may be implemented separately as interoperable logic devices. In various aspects, such components may be formed, at least in part, as one or more integrated circuit devices, which may be collectively referred to as an integrated circuit device such as an integrated circuit chip or chipset. Such circuitry may be provided in a single integrated circuit chip device or may be provided in a plurality of interoperable integrated circuit chip devices and may be implemented in any of a variety of image, display, audio, or other multimedia applications and devices May be used. For example, in some aspects, such components may form part of a mobile device, such as a wireless communication device handset.

Where implemented in software, the techniques may be at least partially realized by a computer-readable medium comprising code having instructions for performing one or more of the methods described above when executed by one or more processors . The computer readable medium may form part of a computer program product that may include packaging materials. The computer-readable medium may be any type of storage medium such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read only memory (ROM), nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) (eDRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), flash memory, random access memory (RAM) such as magnetic or optical data storage media.

Additionally or alternatively, the techniques may be implemented, at least in part, by a computer readable communication medium that carries or communicates code in the form of instructions or data structures that may be accessed, read, and / or executed by one or more processors It is possible. Any connection may be suitably referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a web site, server, or other remote source, using wireless technologies such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or infrared, wireless and microwave, Wireless technologies such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or infrared, radio 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 may be executed by one or more processors, such as one or more DSPs, general purpose microprocessors, ASICs, FPGAs, or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry.

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

Claims (80)

CLAIMS 1. A method for processing graphics data,
Executing a simulation application that provides a simulated environment for simulating an external graphics device;
Displaying one or more graphics images in a graphics scene during execution of the simulation application;
Receiving partitioning information provided by the external graphics device;
Displaying, during execution of the simulation application, a graphical representation of partitions that overlay the one or more graphics images and graphically partition the graphics scene based on the received partitioning information; And
And analyzing graphics data for the one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images are associated with two or more partitions of the partitions. / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising repeating the steps of displaying the one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of the plurality of partitions, analyzing graphics data for a plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images, How to process. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein displaying a graphical representation of the plurality of partitions comprises displaying graphical representations of a plurality of rectangular partitions overlaying the one or more graphics images and graphically partitioning the graphic scene, . The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the graphics data comprises a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the plurality of graphics primitives comprises a plurality of triangles. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein analyzing the graphics data comprises determining which of the triangles spans at least two of the partitions. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein determining which of the triangles spans at least two of the partitions determines whether any of the triangles is at least partially rendered in at least two of the partitions And processing the graphics data. 8. The method of claim 7,
Further comprising displaying a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein displaying a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions comprises displaying a graphical representation of the partitions and displaying a graphical representation of the triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions A method for processing graphics data, the method comprising: displaying a graphical representation. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein displaying a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions comprises displaying a graphical representation of each triangle,
Wherein the graphical representation provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the graphical representation of each corresponding triangle comprises a color. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein displaying the graphical representation of each triangle comprises differently displaying the graphical representation for each triangle according to the number of partitions in which each triangle spans. Way. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the received partitioning information identifies partitions used by the external graphics device when rendering the graphics data based on a hardware architecture of the external graphics device. The method according to claim 1,
Displaying a navigation controller;
Receiving user input to interact with the navigation controller; And
Further comprising displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in the modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein displaying the graphical representation of the plurality of partitions includes displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of the partitions that overlay the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images and graphically partition the modified graphics scene In addition,
Wherein analyzing the graphics data comprises analyzing graphics data for the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with two or more partitions of the partitions And processing the graphics data. The method according to claim 1,
Receiving graphics commands from the external graphics device; And
Receiving status information from the external graphics device, the status information being associated with execution of the graphics commands on the external graphics device;
Wherein displaying one or more graphics images in the graphics scene comprises displaying the one or more graphics images based on the graphics instructions and the status information. 18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the status information comprises 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 to map the graphics data to the graphics instructions. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the partitions are determined based on rendering operations performed on the graphics data. A computer-readable medium for processing graphics data,
One or more processors,
Execute a simulation application that provides a simulated environment for simulating an external graphics device;
To display one or more graphics images in a graphics scene during execution of the simulation application;
Receive the partitioning information provided by the external graphics device;
During execution of the simulation application, to display a graphical representation of partitions that overlay the one or more graphics images and graphically partition the graphics scene based on the received partitioning information;
To analyze graphics data for the one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images are associated with two or more partitions of the partitions
A computer-readable medium for processing graphics data, comprising computer executable instructions. 22. The method of claim 21,
The one or more processors,
Further comprising computer executable instructions for causing the computer to repeat displaying the one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of the plurality of partitions, and analyzing graphics data for a plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images. A computer-readable medium for processing graphics data. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image. 22. The method of claim 21,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of a plurality of the partitions may cause the one or more processors to overlay the one or more graphics images and to graphically A computer-readable medium for processing graphics data, the computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to display a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular partitions. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the graphics data comprises a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images. 26. The method of claim 25,
Wherein the plurality of graphics primitives comprises a plurality of triangles. 27. The method of claim 26,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to analyze the graphics data cause the one or more processors to determine whether any of the triangles spans more than one of the partitions Comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform the steps of: 28. The method of claim 27,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to determine which triangles of the triangles span two or more partitions of the partitions, wherein the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to select among the triangles Computer-executable instructions for causing a processor to determine whether certain triangles are at least partially rendered in two or more of the partitions. 28. The method of claim 27,
The one or more processors,
Further comprising computer executable instructions for displaying a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions. 30. The method of claim 29,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions may cause the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of the partitions Computer-executable instructions for displaying a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions in conjunction with displaying the graphical representation of the triangles. 30. The method of claim 29,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions may cause the one or more processors to display graphics for each triangle Computer-executable instructions for causing a display to be displayed,
Wherein the graphical representation provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 19 > 32. The method of claim 31,
Wherein the graphic representation for each corresponding triangle comprises a color. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 21 > 32. The method of claim 31,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of each triangle, wherein the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of each of the triangles according to the number of partitions to which each triangle spans. Comprising: computer-executable instructions for causing the computer to display differently the graphical representation for the computer-readable medium for processing graphics data. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the received partitioning information identifies partitions used by the external graphics device when rendering the graphics data based on a hardware architecture of the external graphics device. 22. The method of claim 21,
The one or more processors,
Display the navigation controller;
Receive user input to interact with the navigation controller;
For displaying a modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images in the modified graphics scene based on the user input to the navigation controller
A computer-readable medium for processing graphics data, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer executable instructions. 36. The method of claim 35,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of a plurality of the partitions may cause the one or more processors to overlay the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images, Comprising: computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to display a graphical representation of a plurality of said partitions that graphically partition a resulting graphics scene;
Wherein the computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to analyze the graphics data cause the one or more processors to analyze graphics data for the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images, Computer-executable instructions for causing a processor to determine which portions of graphics data are associated with two or more of the partitions. 22. The method of claim 21,
The one or more processors,
Receive graphics commands from the external graphics device;
Further comprising computer executable instructions for causing the external graphics device to receive status information;
Wherein the status information is associated with execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device,
The computer-executable instructions for causing the one or more processors to display one or more graphics images in the graphical scene may cause the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to display, based on the graphics commands and the status information, The computer program product comprising computer executable instructions for causing the computer to perform the following steps: 39. The method of claim 37,
Wherein the status information comprises graphics data for the one or more graphics images. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 19 > 39. The method of claim 37,
The one or more processors,
Further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing the external graphics device to receive mapping information for mapping the graphics data to the graphics commands. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the partitions are determined based on rendering operations performed on the graphics data. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 19 > A device for processing graphics data,
Means for executing a simulation application that provides a simulated environment for simulating an external graphics device;
Means for displaying one or more graphics images in a graphics scene during execution of the simulation application;
Means for receiving partitioning information provided by the external graphics device;
Means for overlaying the one or more graphics images based on the received partitioning information during execution of the simulation application and displaying a graphical representation of the partitions partitioning graphically the graphics scene; And
Means for analyzing graphics data for the one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data for the one or more graphics images are associated with two or more partitions of the partitions, A device that processes data. 42. The method of claim 41,
Means for displaying the one or more graphics images and means for displaying a graphical representation of partitions overlaying the one or more graphics images and graphically partitioning the graphics scene comprises a display device,
Means for receiving the partitioning information, and means for analyzing the graphics data comprises one or more processors,
The one or more processors,
Receiving the partitioning information provided by the external graphics device,
And to analyze the graphics data for the one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with two or more partitions of the partitions. 43. The method of claim 42,
The one or more processors may also be configured to repeat displaying the one or more graphics images, displaying a graphical representation of the plurality of partitions, and analyzing graphics data for a plurality of frames of the one or more graphics images Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > graphics data. ≪ / RTI > 43. The method of claim 42,
Wherein at least one of the one or more graphics images comprises a three-dimensional graphics image. 43. The method of claim 42,
Wherein the one or more processors are configured to display a graphical representation of a plurality of the partitions by displaying at least a graphical representation of a plurality of rectangular partitions that overlay the one or more graphics images and graphically divide the graphics scene, / RTI > 43. The method of claim 42,
Wherein the graphics data comprises a plurality of graphics primitives used to render the one or more graphics images. 47. The method of claim 46,
Wherein the plurality of graphics primitives comprise a plurality of triangles. 49. The method of claim 47,
Wherein the one or more processors are configured to analyze the graphics data by at least determining which of the triangles spans at least two of the partitions. 49. The method of claim 48,
Wherein the one or more processors determine at least some of the triangles to be at least partially rendered in two or more of the partitions, Wherein the span of spans is spanned across the device. 49. The method of claim 48,
Wherein the one or more processors are further configured to display a graphical representation of triangles spanning across two or more of the partitions. 51. The method of claim 50,
Wherein the one or more processors are configured to display a graphical representation of triangles spanning at least two of the partitions, at least displaying a graphical representation of the partitions, And to display a graphical representation of the triangles spanning over. 51. The method of claim 50,
Wherein the one or more processors are configured to display a graphical representation of triangles spanning at least two of the partitions by displaying, at least, a graphical representation of each triangle,
Wherein the graphical representation provides a visual indication of the number of partitions spanned by each corresponding triangle. 53. The method of claim 52,
Wherein the graphic representation for each corresponding triangle comprises a color. 53. The method of claim 52,
Wherein the one or more processors are configured to display a graphical representation of each of the triangles by at least displaying the graphical representation for each triangle in accordance with the number of partitions in which each triangle spans. A device that processes data. 43. The method of claim 42,
Wherein the received partitioning information identifies partitions used by the external graphics device when rendering the graphics data based on a hardware architecture of the external graphics device. 43. The method of claim 42,
The one or more processors also display a navigation controller, receive user input to interact with the navigation controller, and determine, based on the user input to the navigation controller, the one or more graphics images Wherein the display device is configured to display a modified perspective view of the graphics data. 57. The method of claim 56,
Wherein the one or more processors display a graphical representation of a plurality of the partitions that at least overlay the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images and graphically partition the modified graphics scene, ;
Wherein the one or more processors analyze at least the graphics data for the modified perspective view of the one or more graphics images to determine which portions of the graphics data are associated with two or more of the partitions, And to analyze the graphics data. 43. The method of claim 42,
Wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive graphics instructions from the external graphics device and to receive status information from the external graphics device,
Wherein the status information is associated with execution of the graphics instructions on the external graphics device,
Wherein the one or more processors are configured to display one or more graphics images in the graphics scene by displaying the one or more graphics images based at least on the graphics instructions and the status information, . 59. The method of claim 58,
Wherein the status information comprises graphics data for the one or more graphics images. 59. The method of claim 58,
Wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive mapping information from the external graphics device to map the graphics data to the graphics instructions. 43. The method of claim 42,
Wherein the partitions are determined based on rendering operations performed on the graphics data. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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