System and method for independently configuring international location and language
Granted: June 6, 2000
Patent Number:
6073090
A system and method for independently configuring international location and language in a computer system generates composite locales for user-selected location and language combinations whenever a user-selected location and language combination is unsupported by default locales. The system includes a location format retrieval element for retrieving location-specific formatting data and a language format retrieval element for retrieving language-specific formatting data. A composite…
Antialiased imaging with improved pixel supersampling
Granted: June 6, 2000
Patent Number:
6072500
An image processing system is described that receives polygonal image data at the direction of a processor and develops antialiased image data for display on a raster scanned display. In particular, the image system includes a scan convertor for converting the polygonal image data into pixel data, which includes pixel screen coordinates and at least one color value for each polygon covered pixel of the pixel data and a supersample coverage mask indicating an extent of polygon coverage…
System software for use in a graphics computer system having a shared system memory
Granted: May 30, 2000
Patent Number:
6070002
A computer system having a shared system memory, and system software in the computer system, are described herein. One or more user applications execute in the computer system. The computer system has a general purpose, shared system memory that is used for all processing, including video input/output operations and image conversion operations. The computer system also has a multimedia access and control module (MACM), which is the input/output interface between the computer system and…
System and method for resource recovery in a distributed system
Granted: May 23, 2000
Patent Number:
6067634
A system for recovering resources, wherein the system includes a plurality of allocating services that each allocate resources to clients and a resource audit service in communication with each of the plurality of allocating services. When one of the plurality of allocating services allocates a resource to a client, the one of the plurality of allocating services sends a registration to the resource audit service identifying the client as a recipient of the resource. The resource audit…
Programmable packer and unpacker with ditherer
Granted: May 16, 2000
Patent Number:
6065084
A programmable packer and unpacker with dither support is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a packer packs a plurality of bits of a first bus to a lesser plurality of bits of a second bus according to one of a plurality of different packing modes. In another embodiment, an unpacker unpacks a plurality of bits of a first bus from a lesser plurality of bits of a second bus according to one of the plurality of different packing modes. The packer comprises a plurality of…
Apparatus and method for compiler identification of address data
Granted: May 9, 2000
Patent Number:
6059839
In a compiler for processing a software program and generating machine executable code, a method for optimizing a plurality of variables that have their addresses taken. The method is comprised of the steps of processing source code in a front end of the compiler, to determine a plurality of variables that have their addresses taken. The compiler then analyzes local calls for the plurality of variable that have their addresses taken and determines which local variables may be safely…
Flat panel display and stand with vertical adjustment and tilt adjustment
Granted: May 9, 2000
Patent Number:
6061104
A display assembly that includes a flat panel display and a display stand. A hinge that attaches to the housing of the display provides for tilt adjustment. The display stand includes two rails that attach to a base and a sliding frame that is coupled to the hinge. The two rails support the sliding frame such that the sliding frame can move up and down along the two rails. A rotary dampener dampens downward movement of the sliding frame. The display stand also includes a latching…
Blended texture illumination mapping
Granted: May 2, 2000
Patent Number:
6057850
A method and apparatus for expeditiously rendering realistic bumpy self-shadowed textured computer graphics is provide. Illuminated texture images of an object are obtained and stored in a data base as texture maps. These illuminated texture images are superimposed on top of each other and blended according to their weighted illumination contributions from the light sources to create a blended texture map. This blended texture map is then mapped to the desired surface of the geometric…
Distributed control and synchronization of multiple data processors using flexible command queues
Granted: April 25, 2000
Patent Number:
6055579
A system for synchronization of data processing in a data processing system including multiple command queues is disclosed. The disclosed data processing system includes one or more processing engines associated with one or more command queues. The use of multiple command queues supports multiple priority levels, such that commands in higher priority queues may preempt commands in lower priority queues. Data processing is synchronized by queue commands that allow a processing engine to…
Method and system for an efficient user mode cache manipulation using a simulated instruction
Granted: April 11, 2000
Patent Number:
6049866
A method and a system for fast user mode cache synchronization. The present invention is implemented on a computer system having a instruction cache. The system of the present invention detects a simulated instruction from a process running on the computer system while the process is running in a user mode. The simulated instruction causes an error exception and the operating system traps the error. The kernel then interprets the simulated instruction is then as an instruction cache…
High memory capacity DIMM with data and state memory
Granted: April 11, 2000
Patent Number:
6049476
A high memory capacity dual in-line memory module (DIMM) for use in a directory-based, distributed shared memory multiprocessor computer system including a data memory for storing data and a state memory for storing state or directory information corresponding to at least a portion of the data. The DIMM allows the data and the state information to be accessed independently. The DIMM can be configured in a plurality of storage capacities.
Hot-plug power supply for high-availability computer systems
Granted: March 28, 2000
Patent Number:
6044424
A system and method for minimizing disruption of operating power in a high-availability computer as new power supplies are hot-inserted. In the preferred embodiment, the high-availability computer includes a plurality hot-plug power supplies, a logic circuit system, and a power distribution system for distributing operating power from the power supplies to the logic circuit system. Preferably, the output capacitance of each power supply is significantly less than the total capacitance of…
Method, system, and computer program product for updating texture with overscan
Granted: March 14, 2000
Patent Number:
6037948
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for updating texture on a graphical display object with overscan. A preprocessor stage defines an overscan region representing an extension of an object surface rasterized in texture space. A texture update stage creates a dilated texture map that includes updated mapped texels for a mapped region and updated overscan texels corresponding to the overscan region, such that texture is updated in the mapped region and the overscan…
Interpolation between relational tables for purposes of animating a data visualization
Granted: March 7, 2000
Patent Number:
6034697
A method, system, and computer program product are provided for a new data visualization tool that visually approximates a scatter plot and provides smooth animation of graphics by using interpolated data. An interpolation process is performed over pre-processed bins of scattered data points. A user can smoothly animate a plot along several dimensions by using an external query device to vary a selected data attribute. If the external query device (or slider) control is positioned in…
Method and system for deskewing parallel bus channels
Granted: February 29, 2000
Patent Number:
6031847
The present invention comprises a dynamic skew compensation circuit. The present invention includes a receiver, a plurality of channel inputs built into the receiver, and a delay stack structure coupled to the plurality of channel inputs. The receiver is adapted to accept data from a parallel data transfer cable. The channel inputs couple to each of the individual communications channels which comprise the parallel data transfer cable. The delay stack structure includes a plurality of…
System, method, and computer program product for partial redundancy elimination based on static single assignment form during compilation
Granted: February 15, 2000
Patent Number:
6026241
Partial redundancy elimination of a computer program is described that operates using a static single assignment (SSA) representation of a computer program. The SSA representation of the computer program is processed to eliminate partially redundant expressions in the computer program. This processing involves inserting .PHI. functions for expressions where different values of the expressions reach common points in the computer program. A result of each of the .PHI. functions is stored…
System and method for selection of important attributes
Granted: February 15, 2000
Patent Number:
6026399
A system and method determines how well various attributes in a record discriminate different values of a chosen label attribute. An attribute is considered a relevant attribute if it discriminates different values of a chosen label attribute either alone or in conjunction with other attributes. According to the present invention, a label attribute is selected by a user from a set of records, with each record having a plurality of attributes. Next, one or more first important attributes…
Method of creating and editing a web site in a client-server environment using customizable web site templates
Granted: February 15, 2000
Patent Number:
6026433
A method for creating and editing a Web site in a client-server computer network using customizable templates is provided. To create a Web site, the present embodiment first stores a plurality of templates in a storage device coupled to the client-server computer network. When a client computer generates a request to create a new Web site, the server computer transmits a list of templates to the client for display. The templates contain a multitude of editable objects or elements. A…
Method, system and computer program product for managing memory in a non-uniform memory access system
Granted: February 1, 2000
Patent Number:
6021479
A memory management and control system that is selectable at the application level by an application programmer is provided. The memory management and control system is based on the use of policy modules. Policy modules are used to specify and control different aspects of memory operations in NUMA computer systems, including how memory is managed for processes running in NUMA computer systems. Preferably, each policy module comprises a plurality of methods that are used to control a…
Color calibration device for a display
Granted: January 25, 2000
Patent Number:
D419465
