CA1253258A - Memory access modes for a video display generator - Google Patents
Memory access modes for a video display generatorInfo
- Publication number
- CA1253258A CA1253258A CA000502582A CA502582A CA1253258A CA 1253258 A CA1253258 A CA 1253258A CA 000502582 A CA000502582 A CA 000502582A CA 502582 A CA502582 A CA 502582A CA 1253258 A CA1253258 A CA 1253258A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- display
- storage means
- information
- memory
- signals
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
- G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
- G09G5/02—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the way in which colour is displayed
- G09G5/026—Control of mixing and/or overlay of colours in general
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
- G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
- G09G5/36—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
- G09G5/39—Control of the bit-mapped memory
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
A display memory which stores information to be displayed on a raster scan CRT comprises a first storage element for storing dot information, a second storage element for storing behavior information, and a third storage element for storing characteristic information. The first, second, and third storage element are each arranged in an nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of information. Further, each of the first, second, and third storage elements has address terminals each operatively connected to a display address bus adapted to receive address information from a CPU.
Control logic receives address signals, data signals, and control signals from the CPU. The control logic generates enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of said first, second, and third storage elements in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
A display memory which stores information to be displayed on a raster scan CRT comprises a first storage element for storing dot information, a second storage element for storing behavior information, and a third storage element for storing characteristic information. The first, second, and third storage element are each arranged in an nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of information. Further, each of the first, second, and third storage elements has address terminals each operatively connected to a display address bus adapted to receive address information from a CPU.
Control logic receives address signals, data signals, and control signals from the CPU. The control logic generates enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of said first, second, and third storage elements in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
Description
- ~ ~?....... 53258 ~PATENT~
R~ ACC~SS ~OD2S FOR A VID~O DY8PLAY G~ERA~ R
BACRGRO~ND OP TB~ ~ ~ IO~
This inventi~n relates to a ra~ter graphic di play syst~m, and more particularly, to an improved display memory organization and apparatuF ~or ~ccessing the display memory.
Raster ~c~n CRT displays f~r~ a principal communication link between co~puter u~ers ~nd their hardware/~oftware 6y5 ems. Tne basic di~play device for compute -generated raster ~raphics ls the CRT
monitor ~hich i~ closely relate~ to a ~t~ndard television receiver~ To achieve the full potential ~f r~ter graphie sys~ems, such ~ygtems require digital computational ~upport sub~tanti~lly in ~cess of that pro~ided by the typic~l CRT ~DnitOr~ The devel~pment of large-scale int~grated ~ir~uit~ ~nd ~icrocomputer~
~a~es i~ pO~6~ ble to ~ont~ol ~u~ di~play~ at ~ffordable prices. ~yp~lly, ~ch p~cture element (pi~el) o ~ ~ubstanti~lly rectangular arr~y of ~uch ele~ent~ of ~ CRT c~prlslng ~he raster 1~ ~s~igned ~2000037 02 ~pril 1985 ~ /
3~
a PATENT "
~ 2 ~
unique addressf which addre~s i6 compri~ed of ~he ~ and y coordinates of each pi~el in the array. Information to control the displ~y of a pixel, its color and intensity, pi~el control ~.nformation, iB stored in a random-access pi~el memory ~t a location having an ~ddrefis corresponding to that of the pixel. The ~surce of such pixel control information is typically a ~icrocomputer located in a graphic controller. Such pixel control information ~ay include the address in a color look-up memory t which location there i~ stored ~inary control 6ignal~ which ~re used to control the intensity ~nd color of each pi~el of the array ~s it iR
scanned. In exi~ting systems, the display memory (which includes the pixel ~e~ory) has been contiguous.
In other words, i~ there are fifty pixels on a display line, the address of the ~ir6t pixel on the first line would be 0, the address of tbe second pixel ~ould be 1, the address of the third pi~ ould be 2,..., and the address of the first pi~el on the second line would be 50. In order to detenmine the di~pl~y memory ~ddress of ~he 49th pi~el on ~he 102nd line, ~he following algorithm, 50 ~i~e~ 102 p~u~ 4g would need to be calculated. ~ultiplication typically 1~ one o~ the t ~5 _ ' I2000037 02 ~pril lg85 !
i ~ 3 ~ 5 ~ ~P~TENT~
: - 3 -810we8t of the i~tructions in any mi ~roprocessor .
Ch~r~cters to be di~played on a CRT are tran~ferred from 8 font memory to the display memory. Such a tran~fer operation would require a ~ultiple number of write~ into di pl~y ~e~ory, with the corresponding addre6s calcul~tion (e.g., for a character of 16 lines, 16 addrecs calculations ~nd 16 writes into di~play memory would be required). Similarly, drawing vertical line~ would require multiple addre s calculations ~nd a correcponding write of the display memory~ A180, so~e e~i~ting system~ will blank t~e CRT ~isplay when writi~g to the di~play memories during the scan of the active display area, or only allow writinq to the di~play memorie~ during the ret~ace times.
~ Thus, there i~ ~ need for a di~play memory organization, and a~sociated ~pparatus for accessing the display ~emory, ~hich provides a ~ore time e~ficient manner to load the display memory with the ch~rac~er ~8) ~0 be d~6pl~yed on the CRT, a more ef~icient ~ay to generate the graphics (more specif~c~lly, for the qeneration of vertical line~ for d~pl~y)~ and provid~ng a ~y o~ acce~sing the displ~y ~emory wi~hout resultinq ln blanklnq the di~pl~y.
I2000037 ~ 02 ~pril 1985 ~ 3258 ~PATENT~
M~A~ 0~ INV~TION
Therefore, there i8 supplied by the present invention apparatus for ~cc~essing a display me~ory. In a data proce~sing sy tem of the pre~ent invention there i6 included a di~play ~y6tem. The display ~ystem S ineludes ~ centr~l proces~ing unit (CP~) ~nd a display memory for 6toring information to be displayed. The di&play memory comprises a first storage element which stores dot information, a ~econd storage element which stores behavior infor~ation, and a third storage element, operatively ~onneoted to the fir~t storage element, ~hich 6tores characteristic information. The first, second, and third ~torage element are each arranged in an nxm plane wbere m i~ an addres~able location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of ~n~or~ation. Further, each of the fir~t, second, ~nd third BtOrage elements has address terminals ea~h oper~tively connected to a display addre~ bu~ ad~pted to receive address information ~rom tlle CP~
Control logic h~ving input terminal& adapted to r~ceive addres~ ~ignals, data sign21s, and ~on~rol I2000037 02 April 1985 ~2~;3.~
signals from the CPU, is operatively connected to first, secondr and third storage element. The control logic generates enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of the first, second, ana third storage element in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a data processing system, having a display system, the display system which inclwdes a central processing unit (CPU) and a display memory for storing information to be displayed, the display memory comprising: a) first storage means for storing dot informatiGn; b) second storage means for storing behavior information; c) third storage means, operatively connected to the first storage means, for storing characteristic information, wherein the first, second, and third storage means are each arranged in an nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of infor-mation, and further wherein each of the first, second, and third storage means has address terminals each operatively connected to a display address bus adapted to receive address information from the CPU; and d) control logic means, having input terminals adapted to receive address signals, data signals, and control signals from the CPU, the control logic means operatively con-nected to the first, second, and third storage means, for gen-erating enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of the first, second, and third stor-age means in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
In accordance with the present invention there is also provided a data processing system, having a display system having a raster scan CRT, the display system which includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a display memory for storing inform-ation to be displayed, the display memory comprising: a) first ~,,
R~ ACC~SS ~OD2S FOR A VID~O DY8PLAY G~ERA~ R
BACRGRO~ND OP TB~ ~ ~ IO~
This inventi~n relates to a ra~ter graphic di play syst~m, and more particularly, to an improved display memory organization and apparatuF ~or ~ccessing the display memory.
Raster ~c~n CRT displays f~r~ a principal communication link between co~puter u~ers ~nd their hardware/~oftware 6y5 ems. Tne basic di~play device for compute -generated raster ~raphics ls the CRT
monitor ~hich i~ closely relate~ to a ~t~ndard television receiver~ To achieve the full potential ~f r~ter graphie sys~ems, such ~ygtems require digital computational ~upport sub~tanti~lly in ~cess of that pro~ided by the typic~l CRT ~DnitOr~ The devel~pment of large-scale int~grated ~ir~uit~ ~nd ~icrocomputer~
~a~es i~ pO~6~ ble to ~ont~ol ~u~ di~play~ at ~ffordable prices. ~yp~lly, ~ch p~cture element (pi~el) o ~ ~ubstanti~lly rectangular arr~y of ~uch ele~ent~ of ~ CRT c~prlslng ~he raster 1~ ~s~igned ~2000037 02 ~pril 1985 ~ /
3~
a PATENT "
~ 2 ~
unique addressf which addre~s i6 compri~ed of ~he ~ and y coordinates of each pi~el in the array. Information to control the displ~y of a pixel, its color and intensity, pi~el control ~.nformation, iB stored in a random-access pi~el memory ~t a location having an ~ddrefis corresponding to that of the pixel. The ~surce of such pixel control information is typically a ~icrocomputer located in a graphic controller. Such pixel control information ~ay include the address in a color look-up memory t which location there i~ stored ~inary control 6ignal~ which ~re used to control the intensity ~nd color of each pi~el of the array ~s it iR
scanned. In exi~ting systems, the display memory (which includes the pixel ~e~ory) has been contiguous.
In other words, i~ there are fifty pixels on a display line, the address of the ~ir6t pixel on the first line would be 0, the address of tbe second pixel ~ould be 1, the address of the third pi~ ould be 2,..., and the address of the first pi~el on the second line would be 50. In order to detenmine the di~pl~y memory ~ddress of ~he 49th pi~el on ~he 102nd line, ~he following algorithm, 50 ~i~e~ 102 p~u~ 4g would need to be calculated. ~ultiplication typically 1~ one o~ the t ~5 _ ' I2000037 02 ~pril lg85 !
i ~ 3 ~ 5 ~ ~P~TENT~
: - 3 -810we8t of the i~tructions in any mi ~roprocessor .
Ch~r~cters to be di~played on a CRT are tran~ferred from 8 font memory to the display memory. Such a tran~fer operation would require a ~ultiple number of write~ into di pl~y ~e~ory, with the corresponding addre6s calcul~tion (e.g., for a character of 16 lines, 16 addrecs calculations ~nd 16 writes into di~play memory would be required). Similarly, drawing vertical line~ would require multiple addre s calculations ~nd a correcponding write of the display memory~ A180, so~e e~i~ting system~ will blank t~e CRT ~isplay when writi~g to the di~play memories during the scan of the active display area, or only allow writinq to the di~play memorie~ during the ret~ace times.
~ Thus, there i~ ~ need for a di~play memory organization, and a~sociated ~pparatus for accessing the display ~emory, ~hich provides a ~ore time e~ficient manner to load the display memory with the ch~rac~er ~8) ~0 be d~6pl~yed on the CRT, a more ef~icient ~ay to generate the graphics (more specif~c~lly, for the qeneration of vertical line~ for d~pl~y)~ and provid~ng a ~y o~ acce~sing the displ~y ~emory wi~hout resultinq ln blanklnq the di~pl~y.
I2000037 ~ 02 ~pril 1985 ~ 3258 ~PATENT~
M~A~ 0~ INV~TION
Therefore, there i8 supplied by the present invention apparatus for ~cc~essing a display me~ory. In a data proce~sing sy tem of the pre~ent invention there i6 included a di~play ~y6tem. The display ~ystem S ineludes ~ centr~l proces~ing unit (CP~) ~nd a display memory for 6toring information to be displayed. The di&play memory comprises a first storage element which stores dot information, a ~econd storage element which stores behavior infor~ation, and a third storage element, operatively ~onneoted to the fir~t storage element, ~hich 6tores characteristic information. The first, second, and third ~torage element are each arranged in an nxm plane wbere m i~ an addres~able location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of ~n~or~ation. Further, each of the fir~t, second, ~nd third BtOrage elements has address terminals ea~h oper~tively connected to a display addre~ bu~ ad~pted to receive address information ~rom tlle CP~
Control logic h~ving input terminal& adapted to r~ceive addres~ ~ignals, data sign21s, and ~on~rol I2000037 02 April 1985 ~2~;3.~
signals from the CPU, is operatively connected to first, secondr and third storage element. The control logic generates enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of the first, second, ana third storage element in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a data processing system, having a display system, the display system which inclwdes a central processing unit (CPU) and a display memory for storing information to be displayed, the display memory comprising: a) first storage means for storing dot informatiGn; b) second storage means for storing behavior information; c) third storage means, operatively connected to the first storage means, for storing characteristic information, wherein the first, second, and third storage means are each arranged in an nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of infor-mation, and further wherein each of the first, second, and third storage means has address terminals each operatively connected to a display address bus adapted to receive address information from the CPU; and d) control logic means, having input terminals adapted to receive address signals, data signals, and control signals from the CPU, the control logic means operatively con-nected to the first, second, and third storage means, for gen-erating enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of the first, second, and third stor-age means in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
In accordance with the present invention there is also provided a data processing system, having a display system having a raster scan CRT, the display system which includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a display memory for storing inform-ation to be displayed, the display memory comprising: a) first ~,,
2~ ~
- 5a - 72593-15 storage means for storing dot information; b) second storage means for storing behavior information; c) third storage means, operatively connected to the first storage means, for storing characteristic information, wherein the first, second, and third storage means are each arranged in a nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of information, and further wherein each bit of an addressable location of the first and third storage means corresponds to first display information for a predetermined position on the raster scan CRT, and wherein all n bits of the corresponding m location of the second storage means corresponds to second display information for all n bits of the corresponding address location of the first and third storage means, and further wherein each of the first, second, and third storage means has address terminals each operatively connected to a dis-play address bus adapted to receive address information from the CPU; and d) control logic means, having input terminals adapted to receive address signals, data signals, and control signals from the CPU, the control logic means operatively con-nected to the first, second, and third storage means, for gen-erating enable control signals to selectively enable access topredetermined combinations of the first, second, and third stor-age means in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
In acc~rdance with the present invention there is also provided a display controller for generating signals for control-ling the information displayed by a raster scan C~T, wherein data is entered into and read from the display controller under the control of data and control signals generated by a processor, the display controller being characterized by: a) a first addres-sible store for holding binary digits representing correspondingindividual dots of the information to be displayed; b) a second ~2~3~
` - 5b - 72593 15 addressible store for holding binary digits representing behav-ior information common to groups of pixels of the display; c) a third addressible store for holding binary digits representing characteristics, including color information, for individual pixels of the display; wherein each addressible location within each of the s-tores holds a plurality of binary digits; and control logic means having input terminals for receiving address, data and control signals from the processor and responsive to the received signals for generating control signals to enable selective access to various combinations of the first, second, and third stores.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for accessing a display memory.
It is another object of the present invention to prov-ide a display memory organized to be loaded in a more time-effic~
ient manner with characters to be displayed on a CRT.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for accessing a display memory organized to correspond with an apparent vertical raster scan.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent when taken in conjunction with the following description and attached drawings, wherein like characters indi-cate like parts, and which drawings form a part of the present application.
~3~
~ PATENT "
BRI~F DeSCRIPTIO~ OP T~ DRAMI~GS
Figure 1 ~hows an ~pparatu~ for a display generation ~y~tem:
Figure 2 show~ an organization of a pixel memory of ~he preferred ~mbodiment oE ~he present invention;
Figure 3 shows ~ layout of a CRT displ~y for the preferred embodiment as it corresponds to the pixel memory organization;
Figsre 4 show~ an organi~ation of a graphic memory of the preferred embodi~ent of the present invention;
Figure 5 show~ a diagram of some logic in~luded in the di playing of the infor~ation of the displAy ~emories of the preferred em~odiment of the present inventicn;
Figure ~ shows a ~uncticnal logic block diagram of the apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the prese~t invention for acce6~ing the display memories;
~na Figu~e 7 ~hows a logic block diagram for reading the pi~el memories of the preferred embodiment of the pre6ent ~.nvention.
I2000037 02 April 1985 ( !
3258 ~ P~TENT "
D~AI~ED D~SCRIP~IO~I ' Referring to Flgure 1, there i~ ~hown an apparatus for D di~play ~eneration system. A graphic processor 10 of the preferred emboldiment includes a ~Motorola k- 6B000 microprocessor (not ~hown) and an ~s~ociated RAM
S (not 6hown). The graphics proce~or 10 interface~ with a video display generatoc 11. The video display generAtor 11 provides the necessary ~ignals to generate di~pl~y8 on and control of a ra~ter ~can CXT monitor ~not shown). The video di~play generator 11 includes 1~ various di~play ~nd control memorie 22, lS, a cursor di~pl~y logic 18, raster s~an logic 20, color look-up address generation logic 2B, And a D/A con~erter 32. A
pixel clock 2~ i~ included to produce the required clocking ~ignals for the video display generator.
Latches and shift registers 26, 30 are operatively coupled to the display memory 22, and along with the clocking ~ignal~ from the p~el clock 24, are 6hifted in ~ synchronous fashion to correspond to ~he scanning o~ the beam of t~e CR~ monitor ~n order to produce ~he de~red displ~y.
I2000037 02 April 1985 ~2~3~
The raster scan logic 20 generates all of the timing and sync signals for the raster scan CRT monitor (not shown) and the necessary timing and control signals for all accesses of the display memories 22. Counters (not shown) in the ras-ter scan logic 20 determine which displayable element on the raster scan CRT moni-tor is currently being displayed and which address to access in the display memories 22.
The display memories 22 are organized in two different forms referred to as the picture element (pixel) memory 12 and the alphagraphic memory (also referred to as the graphic memory) 14. A more detailed description of the format of the pixel memory 12 and the graphic memory 14 will be descr-ibed in detail hereinunder.
The cursor display logic 18 generates a visible cursor which can be positioned anywhere on the display under control of the graphic controller 10. A more detailed descrip-tion of the generation of cursors for a raster graphic display can be had by referring to Canadian application, Serial No.
460,312 filed August 3, 1984 enti-tled "Method and Apparatus for Generating Cursors
- 5a - 72593-15 storage means for storing dot information; b) second storage means for storing behavior information; c) third storage means, operatively connected to the first storage means, for storing characteristic information, wherein the first, second, and third storage means are each arranged in a nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of information, and further wherein each bit of an addressable location of the first and third storage means corresponds to first display information for a predetermined position on the raster scan CRT, and wherein all n bits of the corresponding m location of the second storage means corresponds to second display information for all n bits of the corresponding address location of the first and third storage means, and further wherein each of the first, second, and third storage means has address terminals each operatively connected to a dis-play address bus adapted to receive address information from the CPU; and d) control logic means, having input terminals adapted to receive address signals, data signals, and control signals from the CPU, the control logic means operatively con-nected to the first, second, and third storage means, for gen-erating enable control signals to selectively enable access topredetermined combinations of the first, second, and third stor-age means in response to the address, data, and control signals from the CPU.
In acc~rdance with the present invention there is also provided a display controller for generating signals for control-ling the information displayed by a raster scan C~T, wherein data is entered into and read from the display controller under the control of data and control signals generated by a processor, the display controller being characterized by: a) a first addres-sible store for holding binary digits representing correspondingindividual dots of the information to be displayed; b) a second ~2~3~
` - 5b - 72593 15 addressible store for holding binary digits representing behav-ior information common to groups of pixels of the display; c) a third addressible store for holding binary digits representing characteristics, including color information, for individual pixels of the display; wherein each addressible location within each of the s-tores holds a plurality of binary digits; and control logic means having input terminals for receiving address, data and control signals from the processor and responsive to the received signals for generating control signals to enable selective access to various combinations of the first, second, and third stores.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for accessing a display memory.
It is another object of the present invention to prov-ide a display memory organized to be loaded in a more time-effic~
ient manner with characters to be displayed on a CRT.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for accessing a display memory organized to correspond with an apparent vertical raster scan.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent when taken in conjunction with the following description and attached drawings, wherein like characters indi-cate like parts, and which drawings form a part of the present application.
~3~
~ PATENT "
BRI~F DeSCRIPTIO~ OP T~ DRAMI~GS
Figure 1 ~hows an ~pparatu~ for a display generation ~y~tem:
Figure 2 show~ an organization of a pixel memory of ~he preferred ~mbodiment oE ~he present invention;
Figure 3 shows ~ layout of a CRT displ~y for the preferred embodiment as it corresponds to the pixel memory organization;
Figsre 4 show~ an organi~ation of a graphic memory of the preferred embodi~ent of the present invention;
Figure 5 show~ a diagram of some logic in~luded in the di playing of the infor~ation of the displAy ~emories of the preferred em~odiment of the present inventicn;
Figure ~ shows a ~uncticnal logic block diagram of the apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the prese~t invention for acce6~ing the display memories;
~na Figu~e 7 ~hows a logic block diagram for reading the pi~el memories of the preferred embodiment of the pre6ent ~.nvention.
I2000037 02 April 1985 ( !
3258 ~ P~TENT "
D~AI~ED D~SCRIP~IO~I ' Referring to Flgure 1, there i~ ~hown an apparatus for D di~play ~eneration system. A graphic processor 10 of the preferred emboldiment includes a ~Motorola k- 6B000 microprocessor (not ~hown) and an ~s~ociated RAM
S (not 6hown). The graphics proce~or 10 interface~ with a video display generatoc 11. The video display generAtor 11 provides the necessary ~ignals to generate di~pl~y8 on and control of a ra~ter ~can CXT monitor ~not shown). The video di~play generator 11 includes 1~ various di~play ~nd control memorie 22, lS, a cursor di~pl~y logic 18, raster s~an logic 20, color look-up address generation logic 2B, And a D/A con~erter 32. A
pixel clock 2~ i~ included to produce the required clocking ~ignals for the video display generator.
Latches and shift registers 26, 30 are operatively coupled to the display memory 22, and along with the clocking ~ignal~ from the p~el clock 24, are 6hifted in ~ synchronous fashion to correspond to ~he scanning o~ the beam of t~e CR~ monitor ~n order to produce ~he de~red displ~y.
I2000037 02 April 1985 ~2~3~
The raster scan logic 20 generates all of the timing and sync signals for the raster scan CRT monitor (not shown) and the necessary timing and control signals for all accesses of the display memories 22. Counters (not shown) in the ras-ter scan logic 20 determine which displayable element on the raster scan CRT moni-tor is currently being displayed and which address to access in the display memories 22.
The display memories 22 are organized in two different forms referred to as the picture element (pixel) memory 12 and the alphagraphic memory (also referred to as the graphic memory) 14. A more detailed description of the format of the pixel memory 12 and the graphic memory 14 will be descr-ibed in detail hereinunder.
The cursor display logic 18 generates a visible cursor which can be positioned anywhere on the display under control of the graphic controller 10. A more detailed descrip-tion of the generation of cursors for a raster graphic display can be had by referring to Canadian application, Serial No.
460,312 filed August 3, 1984 enti-tled "Method and Apparatus for Generating Cursors
3.~
~PATEN~
~or a Ra~ter Graphic D~play~, ~ssigned to the ~ame 2ssignee as the pre~ent application.
The color lookup ~Iddres~ generation logic 28 determines if the current displayable element is a pixel, alphagraphic, or cursor element (ba~ed on the di~pl~y priority) and u5e8 thi~ determin~tion along with the proper index bits ~pixel or alphagraphic) to access a loc~tion in the color lookup memory 16. The color lookup memory 16, &t location~ having addresses cosresponding to the color addres~es applied by the color lookup ~ddress generator logi~ 28, has stored color control ~ignal~ which ~re used to control the intensity of the electron beams of the color guns of a conventional color C~T monitor (not hown) ~nd which determ1ne the color ~nd inten~ity of each pictu~e element of the display arr~y a~ scanned. An eigh~-bit byte is ~tored in the color lookup memory 16 2t lo~ation~ corre~pondin~ ~o ~he co~or addre~ses applied. In synchronism Yith the scanning o~ each pi~el of the diRplay, the eolor con~rol signal i8 read out of color lookup ~emory 16 ~nd ~pplied to D to A
conver~ers ~2~ D to A ~onverters 32 convert 6 o~ the 8 I2Q00037 02 ~pril 19~5 ~ ~3~5~3 ~ATENTW
binary ~ignal~ ~nto ~nalo~ ~ignal~ for ~ontrolling intensity of the red, green, ~nd blue electron beam gun~ of the conventional C'RT monitor. In ~ddition, in the preferred embodiment, two bits of khe color control ~ignal are ~pplied to a fourth D to A converter which convert~ these two bits into a ~onochrome analcg signal which can be used to produce a permanent record of the raster display using conventional equipment, as is well known in the art. A more complete description of the color lookup addres6 generation logic 28 and the 1~ a~sociated color lookup memory 16 can be had by referring to ~.S. Patent No. 4,490,797 entitled UMethod and Apparatus for Controlling the Display of a Computer Generated Raster Graphic System,~ assigned to the 6ame as~ignee a~ the pre~ent applica~ion.
~igure ~ shows an organi~ation of the pixel memory 12 ~nd Figure 3 sbow~ a layout of the CRT monitor d~play. Referr~ng to Figure~ 2 and 3, the relationfihip of the organisation of the di~play memory 22 (~lthough the dis~u~ion ~ith respect to Figure 2 will be specifically directed ~o ~he pi~el ~e~ory 12, there is ~ ~imilar organization for ~raph~c ~e~ory 1~) I2000037 02 April 1985 ~ ~ ~ 3 2 ~ ~ ~PATENT~
. --11--Yill now be de~cribed7 Tbe acti~e display area, of the CRT monitor of the preferred embodiment of the present invention i~ divided into 640 horizontal elements and ~48 vertical elements. A character size chosen for the di~play of the preferred embodiment is a 5X9 ~haracter in an 8X16 character cell ~i.e,, 8 horizontal pi~21s by 16 vertical pixel6). The pixel memory 12 contain~ five pla~es~ Po, Plr P2- P3. ~nd p4, Each plane is an 8 bit wide by 64R ~emory. Each location of each plane contains 8 bits of information relating to 8 corresponding picture elements. ~ence, location 0 of the pixel memory 12 contains information relating to picture elements 0,0 throu~h 0,7 of the display. The first bit of location 0 of pi~el memory 12 ~ontains information relat~ng to picture element 0,3 of the display, the 6econd bit of location 0 of plxel memory 12 contains information relating ~o picture element 0,1 of the difiplay,.... In csrd2r to display the information of the display memory 22, it i~ nece~sary that the informatlon in displ~y memory 22 corre~pond to the position o the sweep of the CRT monitor (not ~hown). In ra~ter c~n eR~ ~onitors, generally the 12000037 02 April 1985 ~3~
~PATENT ' ~weep i~ ~ horizontal ~weep from left 'co ~ight, top to bottom, in which th~ s~eep start~ at location 0, O and move~ horizontally acroæ~ the display to location 0,639. Thufi, the information fetched ~rom display memory ~2 for display must corre~pond to the positioning o~ the ~weep of the CRT monitor. Namely, location 0 of di~play memory 22 is fetched which corresponds to picture elements 0,0 through 0,7, then location 512 of di~play memory 22 is fetched which corresponds to the picture elements 0,8 through D,15, then location 1024 is fetched..... up to location 40448 which corr~sponds to picture element 0,632 through 0~639O The next line of the di~play ~picture element 1, 0 through 1 J 639 is sc~nned and the corresponding r information i~ fetched from the di~play memory 22 at location 1, 513, 1025,...... ~hen line 447 is completed, the display has been completed and the canning is re~tarted at line 0. The hole area in memory corresponds to the di~play area 4~8 - 511. ~ence~
locations 448 through 511, 960 thrvugh 1023, 1~72 through 1535,....... of di~pl~y memory 22 h~ve no corre~ponding ~e~ive di6plny ~rea. ~he ~et~h o~ ~he " 25 I200003~' 02 April 1985 ~PATENT~
informati~n from display ae~ory 22 i~ pærformed by log~c in the raater sc~n logic 20. ~y ~dding-l to bit 9 li.e., to the 512 bit position) of an addres~
~ounter, the ~orrect ~ddre6~ing ~cheme i~ generated corresponding to the CRT bea~ ~8 it i~ swept acros~ a horizontal line. ~y allowing the hole area in memory, the implementation of incrementing the counter of the raster fican logic is simplified. The area of the di6play from 640 to 1023 al80 corresponds to a memory hole area from locations ~0960 to 64~ (i.e., 65535).
The apparent inefficient u~e o~ ~emory is more than negated by the e~e of L~ple~enting an addressing ~cheme corresponding to the display layou~.
Althouqh a line by line scanning of the display area has been describ~d, i~ ~ill be under~tood that ~lternative ver~ical ~canning technique may be implemented ~ithout depar ing from the scope of the present displ~y Demory organiz~Sion. For example, interl~ce ~canning 3l1ay be implemented ~d~th the organization of the display ~emory 22 ju~t descri~ed.
Tbe ra~ter scan lo~ ould be implemented ~uch that th2 lo~ order bit positlon of the counter for ac~essing >
I200003~ ~2 April 1985 ; I' PATEN~ n ~ the di~play ~emory 22 ~ould be ~lternately set between a 1 and a O on alternate vertical scans, by techniques well known in the ~rt.
A discussed above, the eharacter size cho~en for the display sy~t~m of the preferred embodiment i~ a 5X~
char~cter in an 8X16 charac~er cell. Since ~he di~play ..
memory 22 i8 organized 8 bits wide, which corresponds to 8 horizontal picture elements on the displayr the drawing of any character require~ 16 write operations into the display ~emory 22. The data used for the 16 ;'lC write operation~ i8 typically copied from a font table located in a RAM in which the character information is stored in 16 contiguous locations of the font table. A
character cell c~rresponding to the display of the ~ pre~erred embodiment is also ~ contiguous memory.
There~ore, character~ can be made available for display on the screen by using ~emory to ~emory block moYes from the ont ~emory (not ~how~3 to the display memory 22 Yhich results in less overhead required by the ~icroproce sor of the graphic ~on~roller 10.
~n a ~ r fa~hion~ it can be seen that vertical l~nes are ea ily stored in the di~play ~e~ory 22 by I2000037 02 Apr~l 1985 f~.~325~ ~ PATE~lT~
acces~ing co~t$guous ~emory locations. In thi~ ~anner, it i8 said that the display ~emory 22 i organi~ed to correspond with a Svertical sweep~ of the CRT.
~orizontal lines whioh are to be displaycd more than 8 picture elements long require accessing the corre~ponding memory location in the increments of 512 location~ a~ di~cussed abo~Je.
Referring to Figure ~, there is hown an organization of the gr~phic memory 14. The alphagraphic memory 14 al50 corresponds to a display which i~ 640 horizontal elements and 448 vertical elements. The graphic memory 14 consists of 2 memory planes with each plane organi~ed such that each 8~bit byte corre~ponds to 8 horizontal elements by 1 vertical element. In a first pl~ne, denoted a dot memory 14', each bit determines if the picture element is a foreground or back~round color. ~n a ~e~ond plane, denoted the behavior ~emory 1~'', each 8 bit location determines the b~havior inde~ of.an entire ~ssociate location ~n the dot ~emory 14', and the di~play priority between the pixel ~emory 12 ~nd the alphagraphic ~e~ory 14.l Of tbe 8 b~t~ a behavior .
I2000037 02 April 1985 325B ~PATENT~
.~ index iB 6 bits and a diRplay priority $B 2 bit~. The 6 bit~ repre~enting the behavior index and the 1 bit identifica~ion of each foresround or background color result~ in a 7 bit value u~ed as an in~x into t~e color lookup memory 16. The 2 priority bits determine the priority of the pixel di~play with re~pect to ~he alphagraphic display. rrhe priority is one of three levels which are more fully de~cribed in the aforementioned references. ~he pixel memory 12 stores characteristic information ~or each pixel element;
namely, planes 0-2 contains color information, plane 3 contains inten6ity information, and plane ~ contains blink information.
Referring to Figure 5, there is shown some of the logic of the video display generator 11 utilized for displaying the informa~ion ~tored in the di~play memories 22. ~he raster scan logic 20 reads ~he alphagraphic memory 14 and the pixel memory 12 at the ~me location, ~n the example ~hown in ~igure 5 l wation 0 i~ being read. The 8 bit~ from the do~
~e~ory 14 ' are loaded into ~ ~hift regis~er 26~ and ~he ~ bits from ls~catlon 0 of the behavior ~e~ory 1~ " are I2000037 02 April 1985 R PATENT~
being loaded into a l~tch 26A. Likewise, ~he eontents of l~cation 0 of each plane of the pixel ~emory 12 iR
loaded ~nto a correspondi:ng shift regi~ter. Thus, the 8 bits of location 0 from plane 0 i~ loade~ into shift register SR-0, the 8 bits rom location 0 of plane 1 i~
loaded into SR-l,.... , and the 8 bit~ from location 0 of plane 4 ifi loaded into SR-4. All of the hift registers are shifted such that the color lookup address generation logic 28 proces~es the information related to picture element 0,0 rom both the pixel me~ory 12 and the dot memory 1~'~ Processing is performed to correspond to the information con~ained in latch 26A. At this poin~ in time the sweep of the CRT
~onitor i~ ~t location 0,0 of the display.
Synchronized by the clocking signal, the di~play moves to the next po5ition, i.e., picture element 0,1 of the display and likewise the information corresponding to location 0,1 i~ ahifted into the color 104kup ~ddress generation logic 2B from the shift regi~ter~ 30 and the ~hift regi~ter 26B. Again, this information i~
pr~cessed by the color lookup ~ddress generation logic 28 a~ defined by ~e infor~at~on la~ched ~ latch 26A, ,:
I2000037 02 Aprll 1985 PATENT~
which i6 valid ~or She 8 bit~ of locat1on 0. The process continues until the ~weep of the CRT ~onitor has di played the 8 picture elements of a horizontal llne. The next element to be displayed i~ location 0,8 which corre~ponds to address 512. The raster ~can logic 20 causes a read of location 512 from the graphic memory 14 and the pixe~l ~emory 12 into the shift registers ~nd the above proce~s continues until the entire line ~ displayed, and then continues as described ~bove until the entire di~play area has been proce~sed for display.
The display memories 22 can be written into at any time and the display ~ill not be blanked as a re~ult of the display memory aocess. For ~very fetch of di~play d~t~ by the ra~ter ~can loqic 20 there i8 an equal amount of time ~llowed for the graphic controller 10 to access the display ~emory 22. This is done a5 a result of fetching ~he di~pl~y data ~ a byte o 8 pixe~ 8 and then ~hifting the dat~ out of the 3hift regi~ter~ 26, 30 to the eolor lookup logic 1~,28. The di~play acces~
take~ 4 pi~el ti~e~, leaving ~ pi~el time~ for the - gr~phic controller 10 to acce~6 the di~play De~ory 22.
1200003-/ 02 April 1985 .i ~ PAT~NT~
Rnster ~can loglc 20 takes priv~ity over the ~icroprocessor of the graphic ~ontroller 10 for display memory acce~s. As a resultr in order to avoid wait 6tates by the ~icroproces~;or of the graphic controller 10, logic i8 included in the graphic controller 10 to temporarily ~tore data to be written and the corresponding addre~s into di~play memory 22 thereby eliminating the wait ~tate for the microprocessor.
~eferring to Fi$ure 6, there is ~hown a ~unctional logic block diagram of the apparatus of the preferred ; 10 em~odiment of the present invention for accessing (i.e.p storing the data to be displayed) the diGplay ~emories 22. Plane 0 of pi~el memory 12, 12-0, plane 1 of pixel memory 12, 12-1~.. plane 4 of pixel memory 12, r 12-4, dot memory 1~' of graphic m~mory 14, and behavior memory 14 " of graphic ~emory 1~ have their respecti~e address terminal~ coupled to a display addre~s bus. An address bu~, A(0-19), fro~ She graphic controller 10 h~s its line~ A(0-B) coupled to the display address bus. Lines A(9 15) of the addre~ bus are co~ple~ to the ~ ~$~e of a multiple~er ~X) ~1. Line~ A(12-18) 0~ the addreB~ bu8 are coupl~d to the one ~e of the ~200~037 02 ~p~il 1985 2 ~ 3 ~ PATENT~
MUX ~ ine~ At9-11) of the addre~s bu~ ~re coupled to a one-of-eight decoder 45, and llne A(19) of the address bu~ is coupled to the select terminal of the M~X 41. The output of the ~X 41 is coupled to the display addre~ bus. 'rhe output of the one-of-eight decoder 45 ig coupled to the A inputs of a ~our-~o-one HUX 48. A data bus, lines 0-7, from the graphic controller 10 are coupled to thP B inputs of the four-to-one MUX 48. The C and D inputs of the four-to-one ~UX Rre tied ~oge~her to a logic high position. The enable terminal of the fo~r to-one MUX
48 is coupled to a read/write (R/~) control line from the graphic controller 10. A decoder 5~ has coupled to the inpu~cs the address lines, Atl3-19), and a P~STCLEAR
control line from the gr~phic controller 10 for . generating the select i~nal S0 and Sl for the four-to-one ~X 48, and 80me COn~E0l ~ignals, CO~TROL.
The decoder 52 will be de~cribed in further detail hereinunder.
The di~play ~emories 22 o~ ~he preferred embodiment of the pre~en~ ~nvention ~re dynamic random acce ~emorle~. Ba~h plane of the ~i8pl~y ~e~ory 22~ tha~ i6 .
~, " 25 I2oooo3-J 02 April 1985 ~P~r~3~ PATENT"
the dot ~emory 1~', the behav$or me~ory 14", and plane~ 0 through plane~ 4 of the pixel memory 1~, each con~i~t of an 8 X 64~ ~emory. ~ach bit ~ithin the 8 bit byte ha6 a correspvnding write enable (WE) line for the entire 64X~ ~ence, ~E~ i5 the write enable line ~or the 0 bit po~i~ion of loc2~ion 0 through 64R, ... ~, ~nd WE7 i8 the write enable line for bit 7 from location 0 tbrough 64R. Al~o, each memory plane has a chip enable (CE) terminal which enables access ~o the memory plane. (In the prefsrred em~odiment of the '. 10 present inventio~ each memory plane is implemented utilizing eight 1 x 64R dynamic RAM, TI IC chip No.
4164 or equivalent.) The data bus, lines 0-7, are coupled to the data inp~t terminal o~ the dot ~emory 14'. Likewi~e, ~he data bus~ lines 0-7 are coupled ~o a latch 56, the output~ of the latch being coupled to the data input terminal~ of the behavior memory i4 ~O
The latch enable signal (L~ is a control sign~l generated by decoder 52 which ~111 be de~cribed in further detail hereinunder. Latch 56~ ~n eight bit latch, can be referred to a~ ~ tr~n~parent latch. The l~tch 56 c~n e~tber latch the dsta writ~en ~n~o it sr I2000037 02 Ap~il 1985 ~PATENT~
~ p~ss ~he dAta from the d~ta bu into the ~ehavior ~emory 1~ he latch 56 ~ill alw~y6 pa~8 the data from the data bus to the ou~puts of the latch when the latch enable ~ignal i6 high, or will save the previously lat~hed data on the outputs when the latch enable signal ~s low.
A pixel latch 58 couples data lines (C-4) from the data bus to the input~ of the pixel lat~h, the pixel latch 58 beinq a five bit latch~ The output from each position of the pixel latch 58 i8 c~upled to the data input termin~l~ of the corresponding plane of the pixel memory 12. Each of the 8 data input terminals of each of the planes of the pi~el memory 12 are tied together. The writing sf data in individual bit ~ po~ition~ in the pixel ~emory is ac~ompli hed by use of the write enable lines. The pixel latch is enabled via a control 6i~nal PLE, ~hich will be described hereinunder.
Since e~ch location of tbe b~havior DemOry 14' ' i~
~ritten lnto as a byte line.. 8 bits~, e~ch ~rite enable ~er~inal of the behavior ~emory 1~ coupled to the R~ line from the graphic con~rollex 10. The S
plane~ of the p~el memory ~nd the dot ~emory 1~ have ' ;` :25 S2000037 02 ~pril 1985 aPATENT~
their cor~esponding write enable line~ coupledtogether, i.e., ~Eo o~ dot ~emory 14' 1~ coupled to the WEo of plane 0 o~ pixel memory 12 0 and i8 coupled to WEo of plane 1 of pi~el ~emory 12-1,... and i8 coupled to the ~Eo terminal of the pi~el ~emory 12-4, and is coupled to the corre~ponding output line of the 4 to 1 HUX 48. In a like fashion, each corresponding ~rite enable terminal of each of the 6 planes of the display memories 22 are coupled together and are finally coupled to a corresponding output of the four-to-one ~UX 48.
A first ~ccess mode of the display memories 22 i~
the direct access of the d~t memory 14~o A ~econd ~ccefis ~ode of the display D~mories 22 is the direst access of the behavior ~emory 14 " with data supplied by the ~raphics proce~so~ 10 ~i.e., the latch 56 is tr~nsparent). A third access mode is a direct ~cc*ss to both the dot ~emory 14' and the b~havior memory 14'' s~multaneou~ly the data ~upplied to ~he behavior memory 14'' being ~uppll~d by dat~ l~tched in la~ch 56. For the fir6t acce~ mode, ~be chip enable si~nal CED must be ~ logic 1, ~or the ~econd access ~ode the chip I2000037 . 92 April 1985 PATENT~
- enable signal CEB mUst ~e a logic 1/ and ~or the third acce~s mode the chip enable 6ignals CEB and- CED ~ust both be a logic 1 (or high). To establi~h the desired mode, use iE made of alddres~ lines A(16-13~. Since lines A(0-15) 2re all that are required to addre~s 6~R
of displ~y memory 22, lines A (16-19) are used as ~teerin~ lines and are dlecoded to ~enerate the desired control ~ignal~. Decoder 52 contains the losic to generate control si~nals, ~ONTROL, which include ~ignals LE~ PL~, CED, CEB, CEP, and select ~ignals So, Sl, in accordance with Table 1. The data being ~ritten into the dot memory 14' COmeQ from the B bit data bus from the graphics controller 10. The data that is written into the behavior memory 14 " comes from the latch 56. The latch 56 can be written to by the graphics controll~r 10 at any time. The first, second and third acces~ ~odes corre~pond to conditions S, ~, ~nd 3, respectively, of Table 1.
A fourth accefis mode of the di~play memory 22 i~ an acce~s ~o ~he pi~el ~emories 12. ~he da~a ~o be ~r~tten into the pixel ~e~ories come~ fro~ t~e pi~el latch 58 which ~an be ~ritten into fro~ the graphics controller 10 ~t ~ny time. In the pixel acces~ mode "
~ddres~ bit 19 ~ a loq~c 1 and corre~pond~ to 12000037 02 April 1985 PATENT "
CO~tDI- IFAST IADDRESS B~S I ~:1 MgX ¦ IC~IP E2~ABL~
TION ICLEARl19 18 17 16 ¦ S~L~ CED¦CEB ICEP
1 I X I 1 X X X I A tl O ! O l 1 2 I X 1 0 1 1 1 ¦ B ~ 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 ¦ C,D ¦ ¦ 1 ¦ 1 1 0
~PATEN~
~or a Ra~ter Graphic D~play~, ~ssigned to the ~ame 2ssignee as the pre~ent application.
The color lookup ~Iddres~ generation logic 28 determines if the current displayable element is a pixel, alphagraphic, or cursor element (ba~ed on the di~pl~y priority) and u5e8 thi~ determin~tion along with the proper index bits ~pixel or alphagraphic) to access a loc~tion in the color lookup memory 16. The color lookup memory 16, &t location~ having addresses cosresponding to the color addres~es applied by the color lookup ~ddress generator logi~ 28, has stored color control ~ignal~ which ~re used to control the intensity of the electron beams of the color guns of a conventional color C~T monitor (not hown) ~nd which determ1ne the color ~nd inten~ity of each pictu~e element of the display arr~y a~ scanned. An eigh~-bit byte is ~tored in the color lookup memory 16 2t lo~ation~ corre~pondin~ ~o ~he co~or addre~ses applied. In synchronism Yith the scanning o~ each pi~el of the diRplay, the eolor con~rol signal i8 read out of color lookup ~emory 16 ~nd ~pplied to D to A
conver~ers ~2~ D to A ~onverters 32 convert 6 o~ the 8 I2Q00037 02 ~pril 19~5 ~ ~3~5~3 ~ATENTW
binary ~ignal~ ~nto ~nalo~ ~ignal~ for ~ontrolling intensity of the red, green, ~nd blue electron beam gun~ of the conventional C'RT monitor. In ~ddition, in the preferred embodiment, two bits of khe color control ~ignal are ~pplied to a fourth D to A converter which convert~ these two bits into a ~onochrome analcg signal which can be used to produce a permanent record of the raster display using conventional equipment, as is well known in the art. A more complete description of the color lookup addres6 generation logic 28 and the 1~ a~sociated color lookup memory 16 can be had by referring to ~.S. Patent No. 4,490,797 entitled UMethod and Apparatus for Controlling the Display of a Computer Generated Raster Graphic System,~ assigned to the 6ame as~ignee a~ the pre~ent applica~ion.
~igure ~ shows an organi~ation of the pixel memory 12 ~nd Figure 3 sbow~ a layout of the CRT monitor d~play. Referr~ng to Figure~ 2 and 3, the relationfihip of the organisation of the di~play memory 22 (~lthough the dis~u~ion ~ith respect to Figure 2 will be specifically directed ~o ~he pi~el ~e~ory 12, there is ~ ~imilar organization for ~raph~c ~e~ory 1~) I2000037 02 April 1985 ~ ~ ~ 3 2 ~ ~ ~PATENT~
. --11--Yill now be de~cribed7 Tbe acti~e display area, of the CRT monitor of the preferred embodiment of the present invention i~ divided into 640 horizontal elements and ~48 vertical elements. A character size chosen for the di~play of the preferred embodiment is a 5X9 ~haracter in an 8X16 character cell ~i.e,, 8 horizontal pi~21s by 16 vertical pixel6). The pixel memory 12 contain~ five pla~es~ Po, Plr P2- P3. ~nd p4, Each plane is an 8 bit wide by 64R ~emory. Each location of each plane contains 8 bits of information relating to 8 corresponding picture elements. ~ence, location 0 of the pixel memory 12 contains information relating to picture elements 0,0 throu~h 0,7 of the display. The first bit of location 0 of pi~el memory 12 ~ontains information relat~ng to picture element 0,3 of the display, the 6econd bit of location 0 of plxel memory 12 contains information relating ~o picture element 0,1 of the difiplay,.... In csrd2r to display the information of the display memory 22, it i~ nece~sary that the informatlon in displ~y memory 22 corre~pond to the position o the sweep of the CRT monitor (not ~hown). In ra~ter c~n eR~ ~onitors, generally the 12000037 02 April 1985 ~3~
~PATENT ' ~weep i~ ~ horizontal ~weep from left 'co ~ight, top to bottom, in which th~ s~eep start~ at location 0, O and move~ horizontally acroæ~ the display to location 0,639. Thufi, the information fetched ~rom display memory ~2 for display must corre~pond to the positioning o~ the ~weep of the CRT monitor. Namely, location 0 of di~play memory 22 is fetched which corresponds to picture elements 0,0 through 0,7, then location 512 of di~play memory 22 is fetched which corresponds to the picture elements 0,8 through D,15, then location 1024 is fetched..... up to location 40448 which corr~sponds to picture element 0,632 through 0~639O The next line of the di~play ~picture element 1, 0 through 1 J 639 is sc~nned and the corresponding r information i~ fetched from the di~play memory 22 at location 1, 513, 1025,...... ~hen line 447 is completed, the display has been completed and the canning is re~tarted at line 0. The hole area in memory corresponds to the di~play area 4~8 - 511. ~ence~
locations 448 through 511, 960 thrvugh 1023, 1~72 through 1535,....... of di~pl~y memory 22 h~ve no corre~ponding ~e~ive di6plny ~rea. ~he ~et~h o~ ~he " 25 I200003~' 02 April 1985 ~PATENT~
informati~n from display ae~ory 22 i~ pærformed by log~c in the raater sc~n logic 20. ~y ~dding-l to bit 9 li.e., to the 512 bit position) of an addres~
~ounter, the ~orrect ~ddre6~ing ~cheme i~ generated corresponding to the CRT bea~ ~8 it i~ swept acros~ a horizontal line. ~y allowing the hole area in memory, the implementation of incrementing the counter of the raster fican logic is simplified. The area of the di6play from 640 to 1023 al80 corresponds to a memory hole area from locations ~0960 to 64~ (i.e., 65535).
The apparent inefficient u~e o~ ~emory is more than negated by the e~e of L~ple~enting an addressing ~cheme corresponding to the display layou~.
Althouqh a line by line scanning of the display area has been describ~d, i~ ~ill be under~tood that ~lternative ver~ical ~canning technique may be implemented ~ithout depar ing from the scope of the present displ~y Demory organiz~Sion. For example, interl~ce ~canning 3l1ay be implemented ~d~th the organization of the display ~emory 22 ju~t descri~ed.
Tbe ra~ter scan lo~ ould be implemented ~uch that th2 lo~ order bit positlon of the counter for ac~essing >
I200003~ ~2 April 1985 ; I' PATEN~ n ~ the di~play ~emory 22 ~ould be ~lternately set between a 1 and a O on alternate vertical scans, by techniques well known in the ~rt.
A discussed above, the eharacter size cho~en for the display sy~t~m of the preferred embodiment i~ a 5X~
char~cter in an 8X16 charac~er cell. Since ~he di~play ..
memory 22 i8 organized 8 bits wide, which corresponds to 8 horizontal picture elements on the displayr the drawing of any character require~ 16 write operations into the display ~emory 22. The data used for the 16 ;'lC write operation~ i8 typically copied from a font table located in a RAM in which the character information is stored in 16 contiguous locations of the font table. A
character cell c~rresponding to the display of the ~ pre~erred embodiment is also ~ contiguous memory.
There~ore, character~ can be made available for display on the screen by using ~emory to ~emory block moYes from the ont ~emory (not ~how~3 to the display memory 22 Yhich results in less overhead required by the ~icroproce sor of the graphic ~on~roller 10.
~n a ~ r fa~hion~ it can be seen that vertical l~nes are ea ily stored in the di~play ~e~ory 22 by I2000037 02 Apr~l 1985 f~.~325~ ~ PATE~lT~
acces~ing co~t$guous ~emory locations. In thi~ ~anner, it i8 said that the display ~emory 22 i organi~ed to correspond with a Svertical sweep~ of the CRT.
~orizontal lines whioh are to be displaycd more than 8 picture elements long require accessing the corre~ponding memory location in the increments of 512 location~ a~ di~cussed abo~Je.
Referring to Figure ~, there is hown an organization of the gr~phic memory 14. The alphagraphic memory 14 al50 corresponds to a display which i~ 640 horizontal elements and 448 vertical elements. The graphic memory 14 consists of 2 memory planes with each plane organi~ed such that each 8~bit byte corre~ponds to 8 horizontal elements by 1 vertical element. In a first pl~ne, denoted a dot memory 14', each bit determines if the picture element is a foreground or back~round color. ~n a ~e~ond plane, denoted the behavior ~emory 1~'', each 8 bit location determines the b~havior inde~ of.an entire ~ssociate location ~n the dot ~emory 14', and the di~play priority between the pixel ~emory 12 ~nd the alphagraphic ~e~ory 14.l Of tbe 8 b~t~ a behavior .
I2000037 02 April 1985 325B ~PATENT~
.~ index iB 6 bits and a diRplay priority $B 2 bit~. The 6 bit~ repre~enting the behavior index and the 1 bit identifica~ion of each foresround or background color result~ in a 7 bit value u~ed as an in~x into t~e color lookup memory 16. The 2 priority bits determine the priority of the pixel di~play with re~pect to ~he alphagraphic display. rrhe priority is one of three levels which are more fully de~cribed in the aforementioned references. ~he pixel memory 12 stores characteristic information ~or each pixel element;
namely, planes 0-2 contains color information, plane 3 contains inten6ity information, and plane ~ contains blink information.
Referring to Figure 5, there is shown some of the logic of the video display generator 11 utilized for displaying the informa~ion ~tored in the di~play memories 22. ~he raster scan logic 20 reads ~he alphagraphic memory 14 and the pixel memory 12 at the ~me location, ~n the example ~hown in ~igure 5 l wation 0 i~ being read. The 8 bit~ from the do~
~e~ory 14 ' are loaded into ~ ~hift regis~er 26~ and ~he ~ bits from ls~catlon 0 of the behavior ~e~ory 1~ " are I2000037 02 April 1985 R PATENT~
being loaded into a l~tch 26A. Likewise, ~he eontents of l~cation 0 of each plane of the pixel ~emory 12 iR
loaded ~nto a correspondi:ng shift regi~ter. Thus, the 8 bits of location 0 from plane 0 i~ loade~ into shift register SR-0, the 8 bits rom location 0 of plane 1 i~
loaded into SR-l,.... , and the 8 bit~ from location 0 of plane 4 ifi loaded into SR-4. All of the hift registers are shifted such that the color lookup address generation logic 28 proces~es the information related to picture element 0,0 rom both the pixel me~ory 12 and the dot memory 1~'~ Processing is performed to correspond to the information con~ained in latch 26A. At this poin~ in time the sweep of the CRT
~onitor i~ ~t location 0,0 of the display.
Synchronized by the clocking signal, the di~play moves to the next po5ition, i.e., picture element 0,1 of the display and likewise the information corresponding to location 0,1 i~ ahifted into the color 104kup ~ddress generation logic 2B from the shift regi~ter~ 30 and the ~hift regi~ter 26B. Again, this information i~
pr~cessed by the color lookup ~ddress generation logic 28 a~ defined by ~e infor~at~on la~ched ~ latch 26A, ,:
I2000037 02 Aprll 1985 PATENT~
which i6 valid ~or She 8 bit~ of locat1on 0. The process continues until the ~weep of the CRT ~onitor has di played the 8 picture elements of a horizontal llne. The next element to be displayed i~ location 0,8 which corre~ponds to address 512. The raster ~can logic 20 causes a read of location 512 from the graphic memory 14 and the pixe~l ~emory 12 into the shift registers ~nd the above proce~s continues until the entire line ~ displayed, and then continues as described ~bove until the entire di~play area has been proce~sed for display.
The display memories 22 can be written into at any time and the display ~ill not be blanked as a re~ult of the display memory aocess. For ~very fetch of di~play d~t~ by the ra~ter ~can loqic 20 there i8 an equal amount of time ~llowed for the graphic controller 10 to access the display ~emory 22. This is done a5 a result of fetching ~he di~pl~y data ~ a byte o 8 pixe~ 8 and then ~hifting the dat~ out of the 3hift regi~ter~ 26, 30 to the eolor lookup logic 1~,28. The di~play acces~
take~ 4 pi~el ti~e~, leaving ~ pi~el time~ for the - gr~phic controller 10 to acce~6 the di~play De~ory 22.
1200003-/ 02 April 1985 .i ~ PAT~NT~
Rnster ~can loglc 20 takes priv~ity over the ~icroprocessor of the graphic ~ontroller 10 for display memory acce~s. As a resultr in order to avoid wait 6tates by the ~icroproces~;or of the graphic controller 10, logic i8 included in the graphic controller 10 to temporarily ~tore data to be written and the corresponding addre~s into di~play memory 22 thereby eliminating the wait ~tate for the microprocessor.
~eferring to Fi$ure 6, there is ~hown a ~unctional logic block diagram of the apparatus of the preferred ; 10 em~odiment of the present invention for accessing (i.e.p storing the data to be displayed) the diGplay ~emories 22. Plane 0 of pi~el memory 12, 12-0, plane 1 of pixel memory 12, 12-1~.. plane 4 of pixel memory 12, r 12-4, dot memory 1~' of graphic m~mory 14, and behavior memory 14 " of graphic ~emory 1~ have their respecti~e address terminal~ coupled to a display addre~s bus. An address bu~, A(0-19), fro~ She graphic controller 10 h~s its line~ A(0-B) coupled to the display address bus. Lines A(9 15) of the addre~ bus are co~ple~ to the ~ ~$~e of a multiple~er ~X) ~1. Line~ A(12-18) 0~ the addreB~ bu8 are coupl~d to the one ~e of the ~200~037 02 ~p~il 1985 2 ~ 3 ~ PATENT~
MUX ~ ine~ At9-11) of the addre~s bu~ ~re coupled to a one-of-eight decoder 45, and llne A(19) of the address bu~ is coupled to the select terminal of the M~X 41. The output of the ~X 41 is coupled to the display addre~ bus. 'rhe output of the one-of-eight decoder 45 ig coupled to the A inputs of a ~our-~o-one HUX 48. A data bus, lines 0-7, from the graphic controller 10 are coupled to thP B inputs of the four-to-one MUX 48. The C and D inputs of the four-to-one ~UX Rre tied ~oge~her to a logic high position. The enable terminal of the fo~r to-one MUX
48 is coupled to a read/write (R/~) control line from the graphic controller 10. A decoder 5~ has coupled to the inpu~cs the address lines, Atl3-19), and a P~STCLEAR
control line from the gr~phic controller 10 for . generating the select i~nal S0 and Sl for the four-to-one ~X 48, and 80me COn~E0l ~ignals, CO~TROL.
The decoder 52 will be de~cribed in further detail hereinunder.
The di~play ~emories 22 o~ ~he preferred embodiment of the pre~en~ ~nvention ~re dynamic random acce ~emorle~. Ba~h plane of the ~i8pl~y ~e~ory 22~ tha~ i6 .
~, " 25 I2oooo3-J 02 April 1985 ~P~r~3~ PATENT"
the dot ~emory 1~', the behav$or me~ory 14", and plane~ 0 through plane~ 4 of the pixel memory 1~, each con~i~t of an 8 X 64~ ~emory. ~ach bit ~ithin the 8 bit byte ha6 a correspvnding write enable (WE) line for the entire 64X~ ~ence, ~E~ i5 the write enable line ~or the 0 bit po~i~ion of loc2~ion 0 through 64R, ... ~, ~nd WE7 i8 the write enable line for bit 7 from location 0 tbrough 64R. Al~o, each memory plane has a chip enable (CE) terminal which enables access ~o the memory plane. (In the prefsrred em~odiment of the '. 10 present inventio~ each memory plane is implemented utilizing eight 1 x 64R dynamic RAM, TI IC chip No.
4164 or equivalent.) The data bus, lines 0-7, are coupled to the data inp~t terminal o~ the dot ~emory 14'. Likewi~e, ~he data bus~ lines 0-7 are coupled ~o a latch 56, the output~ of the latch being coupled to the data input terminal~ of the behavior memory i4 ~O
The latch enable signal (L~ is a control sign~l generated by decoder 52 which ~111 be de~cribed in further detail hereinunder. Latch 56~ ~n eight bit latch, can be referred to a~ ~ tr~n~parent latch. The l~tch 56 c~n e~tber latch the dsta writ~en ~n~o it sr I2000037 02 Ap~il 1985 ~PATENT~
~ p~ss ~he dAta from the d~ta bu into the ~ehavior ~emory 1~ he latch 56 ~ill alw~y6 pa~8 the data from the data bus to the ou~puts of the latch when the latch enable ~ignal i6 high, or will save the previously lat~hed data on the outputs when the latch enable signal ~s low.
A pixel latch 58 couples data lines (C-4) from the data bus to the input~ of the pixel lat~h, the pixel latch 58 beinq a five bit latch~ The output from each position of the pixel latch 58 i8 c~upled to the data input termin~l~ of the corresponding plane of the pixel memory 12. Each of the 8 data input terminals of each of the planes of the pi~el memory 12 are tied together. The writing sf data in individual bit ~ po~ition~ in the pixel ~emory is ac~ompli hed by use of the write enable lines. The pixel latch is enabled via a control 6i~nal PLE, ~hich will be described hereinunder.
Since e~ch location of tbe b~havior DemOry 14' ' i~
~ritten lnto as a byte line.. 8 bits~, e~ch ~rite enable ~er~inal of the behavior ~emory 1~ coupled to the R~ line from the graphic con~rollex 10. The S
plane~ of the p~el memory ~nd the dot ~emory 1~ have ' ;` :25 S2000037 02 ~pril 1985 aPATENT~
their cor~esponding write enable line~ coupledtogether, i.e., ~Eo o~ dot ~emory 14' 1~ coupled to the WEo of plane 0 o~ pixel memory 12 0 and i8 coupled to WEo of plane 1 of pi~el ~emory 12-1,... and i8 coupled to the ~Eo terminal of the pi~el ~emory 12-4, and is coupled to the corre~ponding output line of the 4 to 1 HUX 48. In a like fashion, each corresponding ~rite enable terminal of each of the 6 planes of the display memories 22 are coupled together and are finally coupled to a corresponding output of the four-to-one ~UX 48.
A first ~ccess mode of the display memories 22 i~
the direct access of the d~t memory 14~o A ~econd ~ccefis ~ode of the display D~mories 22 is the direst access of the behavior ~emory 14 " with data supplied by the ~raphics proce~so~ 10 ~i.e., the latch 56 is tr~nsparent). A third access mode is a direct ~cc*ss to both the dot ~emory 14' and the b~havior memory 14'' s~multaneou~ly the data ~upplied to ~he behavior memory 14'' being ~uppll~d by dat~ l~tched in la~ch 56. For the fir6t acce~ mode, ~be chip enable si~nal CED must be ~ logic 1, ~or the ~econd access ~ode the chip I2000037 . 92 April 1985 PATENT~
- enable signal CEB mUst ~e a logic 1/ and ~or the third acce~s mode the chip enable 6ignals CEB and- CED ~ust both be a logic 1 (or high). To establi~h the desired mode, use iE made of alddres~ lines A(16-13~. Since lines A(0-15) 2re all that are required to addre~s 6~R
of displ~y memory 22, lines A (16-19) are used as ~teerin~ lines and are dlecoded to ~enerate the desired control ~ignal~. Decoder 52 contains the losic to generate control si~nals, ~ONTROL, which include ~ignals LE~ PL~, CED, CEB, CEP, and select ~ignals So, Sl, in accordance with Table 1. The data being ~ritten into the dot memory 14' COmeQ from the B bit data bus from the graphics controller 10. The data that is written into the behavior memory 14 " comes from the latch 56. The latch 56 can be written to by the graphics controll~r 10 at any time. The first, second and third acces~ ~odes corre~pond to conditions S, ~, ~nd 3, respectively, of Table 1.
A fourth accefis mode of the di~play memory 22 i~ an acce~s ~o ~he pi~el ~emories 12. ~he da~a ~o be ~r~tten into the pixel ~e~ories come~ fro~ t~e pi~el latch 58 which ~an be ~ritten into fro~ the graphics controller 10 ~t ~ny time. In the pixel acces~ mode "
~ddres~ bit 19 ~ a loq~c 1 and corre~pond~ to 12000037 02 April 1985 PATENT "
CO~tDI- IFAST IADDRESS B~S I ~:1 MgX ¦ IC~IP E2~ABL~
TION ICLEARl19 18 17 16 ¦ S~L~ CED¦CEB ICEP
1 I X I 1 X X X I A tl O ! O l 1 2 I X 1 0 1 1 1 ¦ B ~ 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 ¦ C,D ¦ ¦ 1 ¦ 1 1 0
4 ¦ 1 1 0 1 1 0 I C,D ¦ ~
5 ¦ X 1 0 1 0 1 I C,D I 1 1 1 0 1 0 ~, 6 I X I O 1 0 0 I C,D I I O 1 1 1 0 . I l l 11 1 1 8 I X ¦ 0 0 1 0 ILATC~ ACCESS I 1 0 1 0 ¦ 0 9 I X I O O 1 0 ¦ NO~ APPLICABLE TO DISPLAY
MEMOR I ES
X = Don ' t Care 1 ~ Enable Alg ~ O ~ Byte ~ccefi~ ~i.e~ Access to Graphic P~emory 14) Alg - 16 - Byte Access type 9 18 ~ 17 16 ~ 15~ 13 + 19 ~ 18 17 16 PLE = 19 ~ 18 ~ 17 16 15 1~ 13 I2000037 02 April 1985 U PATENT"
condition 1 of Table 1. Lines A9~ re u6ed to determine ~hich one of the eight bits (i.e.~ pi~els) are to be written into. The ~our-to-one MUX ~8 6ele~ts the A input6 for which only one of the ei~ht output line~ will be a logic one, that i~ only one bit position will be changed. The chip enable fiignal CEP
will be a logic one the,reby only affecting the pixel ~emorie~ 12. The corre~ponding pi~el position for each of the five plane~ of the pi~el ~emories 12 ~ill have data writ~en into corre ponding to the data ~tored in the pi~el latch 5B.
The f if th and ~ixth access ~odes are r~ferred to as p~rallel access modes. Nhen ~riting pixels into the display ~emories, the display ~emories ~re organized ~ for optimally generating vertical lines. ~hen a memory ~dd~ess is acce~ed, the micropr~ces~o~ of the graphic controller 10 i~ already ~et to acce~s the next sequential addres~ in ~emory on th~ next access.
~owever, ~hen drawing horizont~ e~ into the pi~el ~e~ory, ~he graphic controller 10 has to calculate a new ~ddre~s for e~ch horizontal pi~el, even though ~he ad~res6ing ln~o ~emorie~ ~ org~ni~ed ~o Dini~i2e ;
:
' 25 S2000037 02 ~pi~l 19~5 ~PA~ENT n ~ultipllcation ~lgor$thms. In the p~rallel ~cce~s ~ode a group of 8 horizont,~l pi~el~ ~an be acce~sed ~imultaneously ~nd any combi~ation of these 8 pixel~
can be ~odified 6imult~neously. Thi6 is accomplished by using a data pattern on ~he data bus to determine which pi~els in ~he group of 8 are to ~e ~odified. The data to be written comes from the pixel latch 58. Wh~n using the data pattern on the data bus to control which of the pi~els to modify via the WE lines, a logic 1 in the data bit indicate~ that the pixel should be modified and a logic 0 indicate~ the pixel is not to be modified. Thi~ information i~ coupled through the B
input6 of the ~our-to-one ~X 48 to the corrésponding write enable line~. This ccrresponds to condition 7 ~f Table 1 fDr ~he p~sel ~emorie The corre ponding parallel acces~ for the graphic memories 14 corre~pond to condition 2 o~ Table 1.
In order to ~llow the graphics controller 10 to clear both the alphagraphic ~emor.y 14 and the pixel ~emory 12, ~n acce~s mode i~ ~e~ined correspondin~ ~o conditl0n 4 o~ T~ble 1 where both the alphagraphic 14 ~nd pi~el ~e~ory 12 c~n be ~rit~en in~o si~ultaneouslyO ~hen acces~ing the latches "
I2000037 02 April 1985 3r~5~ ~PATENT~
corresponding to condition 8 of ~able 1, the address line6 13 through 15 ~re u~ed in addition to the four previously mentioned line~3, i.e., lines 16-19. Since the di~play memorie~ 22 c:ontain l~rge hole ~reas ~ome of these addres6 line5 ~y be used as additional steering lines 6ince the ~emories are not in the active display area.
Referring to ~igure 7, ~hen the graphics controller 10 reads from the pixel memory 12, a group of 8 pixels from each plane for a total of 40 bits are read. The eight data output lines of each ~lane of the display memory 22 are not tied together. An 8 bit multiple~er for eacb plane determines which one of the 8 bi~s from e~ch pl~ne to tran~fer to the graphics controller 10.
~he address bit3 A(D-8 ~nd 12-18) determine which group of 8 pi~els to read and bits A(9,10,11) determine ~hich one of the 8 pixal~ to pa6s to ~he graphics con~roller 10 ., ~hile there h~s been shown what i8 considered the preferred embodiment o~ the present invention, i~ will be ~anifest tkat m~ny changes ~nd ~odific~tions can be ~ade tberein ~ithout depart~ng f~o~ t~e e~ential I2000037 02 Apr~l 1985 a PATENT "
--29 ~
r Bpirit and scope of the ~nvention. It i~ intended, therefore, ln the anne~ed clai~s to cover all ~uch changes and modifications which ~all within the true scope of the invention.
; 20 : 25 I2000037 02 April 1~85
MEMOR I ES
X = Don ' t Care 1 ~ Enable Alg ~ O ~ Byte ~ccefi~ ~i.e~ Access to Graphic P~emory 14) Alg - 16 - Byte Access type 9 18 ~ 17 16 ~ 15~ 13 + 19 ~ 18 17 16 PLE = 19 ~ 18 ~ 17 16 15 1~ 13 I2000037 02 April 1985 U PATENT"
condition 1 of Table 1. Lines A9~ re u6ed to determine ~hich one of the eight bits (i.e.~ pi~els) are to be written into. The ~our-to-one MUX ~8 6ele~ts the A input6 for which only one of the ei~ht output line~ will be a logic one, that i~ only one bit position will be changed. The chip enable fiignal CEP
will be a logic one the,reby only affecting the pixel ~emorie~ 12. The corre~ponding pi~el position for each of the five plane~ of the pi~el ~emories 12 ~ill have data writ~en into corre ponding to the data ~tored in the pi~el latch 5B.
The f if th and ~ixth access ~odes are r~ferred to as p~rallel access modes. Nhen ~riting pixels into the display ~emories, the display ~emories ~re organized ~ for optimally generating vertical lines. ~hen a memory ~dd~ess is acce~ed, the micropr~ces~o~ of the graphic controller 10 i~ already ~et to acce~s the next sequential addres~ in ~emory on th~ next access.
~owever, ~hen drawing horizont~ e~ into the pi~el ~e~ory, ~he graphic controller 10 has to calculate a new ~ddre~s for e~ch horizontal pi~el, even though ~he ad~res6ing ln~o ~emorie~ ~ org~ni~ed ~o Dini~i2e ;
:
' 25 S2000037 02 ~pi~l 19~5 ~PA~ENT n ~ultipllcation ~lgor$thms. In the p~rallel ~cce~s ~ode a group of 8 horizont,~l pi~el~ ~an be acce~sed ~imultaneously ~nd any combi~ation of these 8 pixel~
can be ~odified 6imult~neously. Thi6 is accomplished by using a data pattern on ~he data bus to determine which pi~els in ~he group of 8 are to ~e ~odified. The data to be written comes from the pixel latch 58. Wh~n using the data pattern on the data bus to control which of the pi~els to modify via the WE lines, a logic 1 in the data bit indicate~ that the pixel should be modified and a logic 0 indicate~ the pixel is not to be modified. Thi~ information i~ coupled through the B
input6 of the ~our-to-one ~X 48 to the corrésponding write enable line~. This ccrresponds to condition 7 ~f Table 1 fDr ~he p~sel ~emorie The corre ponding parallel acces~ for the graphic memories 14 corre~pond to condition 2 o~ Table 1.
In order to ~llow the graphics controller 10 to clear both the alphagraphic ~emor.y 14 and the pixel ~emory 12, ~n acce~s mode i~ ~e~ined correspondin~ ~o conditl0n 4 o~ T~ble 1 where both the alphagraphic 14 ~nd pi~el ~e~ory 12 c~n be ~rit~en in~o si~ultaneouslyO ~hen acces~ing the latches "
I2000037 02 April 1985 3r~5~ ~PATENT~
corresponding to condition 8 of ~able 1, the address line6 13 through 15 ~re u~ed in addition to the four previously mentioned line~3, i.e., lines 16-19. Since the di~play memorie~ 22 c:ontain l~rge hole ~reas ~ome of these addres6 line5 ~y be used as additional steering lines 6ince the ~emories are not in the active display area.
Referring to ~igure 7, ~hen the graphics controller 10 reads from the pixel memory 12, a group of 8 pixels from each plane for a total of 40 bits are read. The eight data output lines of each ~lane of the display memory 22 are not tied together. An 8 bit multiple~er for eacb plane determines which one of the 8 bi~s from e~ch pl~ne to tran~fer to the graphics controller 10.
~he address bit3 A(D-8 ~nd 12-18) determine which group of 8 pi~els to read and bits A(9,10,11) determine ~hich one of the 8 pixal~ to pa6s to ~he graphics con~roller 10 ., ~hile there h~s been shown what i8 considered the preferred embodiment o~ the present invention, i~ will be ~anifest tkat m~ny changes ~nd ~odific~tions can be ~ade tberein ~ithout depart~ng f~o~ t~e e~ential I2000037 02 Apr~l 1985 a PATENT "
--29 ~
r Bpirit and scope of the ~nvention. It i~ intended, therefore, ln the anne~ed clai~s to cover all ~uch changes and modifications which ~all within the true scope of the invention.
; 20 : 25 I2000037 02 April 1~85
Claims (9)
- Claim 1. In a data processing system, having a display system, the display system which includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a display memory for storing information to be displayed, said display memory comprising:
a) first storage means for storing dot information;
b) second storage means for storing behavior information;
c) third storage means, operatively connected to said first storage means, for storing characteristic information, wherein said first, second, and third storage means are each arranged in an nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of information, and further wherein each of said first, second, and third storage means has address terminals each operatively connected to a display address bus adapted to receive address information from said CPU; and d) control logic means, having input terminals adapted to receive address signals, data signals, and control signals from said CPU, said control logic means (Claim 1 continued) operatively connected to said first, second, and third storage means, for generating enable control signals to selectively enable access to predetermined combinations of said first, second, and third storage means in response to said address, data, and control signals from said CPU. - Claim 2. A display memory, according to claim 1, wherein each of said first, second, and third storage means has n write enable input terminals adapted to receive a write enable signal, each write enable terminal corresponding to a predetermined bit within all ? addressable locations of the associated storage mean , and further wherein each write enable terminal of said first storage means is operatively connected to the corresponding write enable terminal of said third storage means, and further operatively connected to a corresponding output terminal of said control logic means.
- Claim 3. A display memory,according to claim 2, wherein said control logic means comprises:
a) decoder means, Adapted to receive signals from said CPU, for decoding said signal to generate display memory control signals;
b) switch means, operatively connected to said CPU
to receive input signals, said input signals including said control signals and said data signals, and operatively connected to the write enable terminals of said first and third storage means, for outputting selective input signals in response to predetermined display memory control signals. - Claim 4. A display memory, according to claim 3 wherein each write enable terminal of said second storage means is operatively connected to a read/write control terminal of said CPU.
- Claim 5. A display memory, according to claim 4, wherein said second storage means comprises:
a) a first nxm memory means, having a data input terminal corresponding to each of said n bits, for storing said behavior information; and b) first latch means, having input terminals adapted to receive said data signals from said CPU, operatively connected to said data input terminals of said second storage means, for storing said data signals from said CPU in response to a predetermined one of said display memory control signals, thereby allowing said first storage means and said first nxm memory means to be accessed simultaneously. - Claim 6. A display memory, according to claim 5, wherein said third storage means comprises:
a) at least one nxm memory means, having a data input terminal corresponding to each of said n bits, for storing said characteristic information; and (Claim 6 - continued) b) second latch means, having p stages where p corresponds to the number of said nxm memory means, each stage of said second latch means having an input terminal adapted to receive a data signal from said CPU, and having a corresponding output terminal operatively connected to each data input terminal of the corresponding nxm memory means, for storing said data signals from said CPU in response to a predetermined one of said display memory control signals. - Claim 7. In a data processing system, having a display system having a raster scan CRT, the display system which includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a display memory for storing information to be displayed, said display memory comprising:
(Claim 7 - continued) a) first storage means for storing dot information;
b) second storage means for storing behavior information:
c) third storage means, operatively connected to said first storage means, for storing characteristic information, wherein said first, second, and third storage means are each arranged in a nxm plane where m is an addressable location and each addressable location within each plane has n bits of information, And further wherein each bit of an addressable location of said first and third storage means corresponds to first display information for a predetermined position on the raster scan CRT, and wherein all n bits of the corresponding m location of said second storage means corresponds to second display information for all n bits of the corresponding address location of said first and third storage means, and further wherein each of said first, second, and third storage means has address terminals each operatively connected to a display address bus adapted to receive address information from said CPU; and d) control logic means, having input terminals adapted to receive address signals, data signals, and control signals from said CPU, said control logic means operatively connected to said first, second, and third storage means, for generating enable control signals to selectively enable access to predeter-mined combinations of said first, second, and third storage means in response to said address, data, and control signals from said CPU. - 8. A display controller for generating signals for con-trolling the information displayed by a raster scan CRT, wherein data is entered into and read from said display controller under the control of data and control signals generated by a processor, said display controller being characterized by:
a) a first addressible store for holding binary digits representing corresponding individual dots of the information to be displayed;
b) a second addressible store for holding binary digits representing behavior information common to groups of pixels of the display;
c) a third addressible store for holding binary digits representing characteristics, including color information, for individual pixels of the display;
wherein each addressible location within each of said stores holds a plurality of binary digits; and control logic means having input terminals for receiving address, data and control signals from said processor and res-ponsive to said received signals for generating control signals to enable selective access to various combinations of said first, second, and third stores. - 9. The display generator of claim 8, wherein, under control of said control logic means, single binary digits read from both of said first and third stores control corresponding single pixels of the display, and wherein the set of binary digits in each addressible location of said second store are read as on entity to control in a uniform manner the group of pixels of said display corresponding to said location.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US721,021 | 1976-09-07 | ||
| US06/721,021 US4663619A (en) | 1985-04-08 | 1985-04-08 | Memory access modes for a video display generator |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1253258A true CA1253258A (en) | 1989-04-25 |
Family
ID=24896190
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000502582A Expired CA1253258A (en) | 1985-04-08 | 1986-02-24 | Memory access modes for a video display generator |
Country Status (10)
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|---|---|
| US (1) | US4663619A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0201210B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPH07120426B2 (en) |
| AU (1) | AU587422B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1253258A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3688145T2 (en) |
| IN (2) | IN165062B (en) |
| NO (1) | NO174405C (en) |
| SG (1) | SG62493G (en) |
| ZA (1) | ZA861233B (en) |
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| CA1254683A (en) * | 1985-05-17 | 1989-05-23 | Kevin P. Staggs | On-line verification of video display generator |
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| US5317684A (en) * | 1986-02-17 | 1994-05-31 | U.S. Philips Corporation | Method of storing character data in a display device |
| JP2500858B2 (en) * | 1986-04-11 | 1996-05-29 | インターナショナル・ビジネス・マシーンズ・コーポレーション | Display system having extended raster operation circuit |
| US4912658A (en) * | 1986-04-18 | 1990-03-27 | Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | Method and apparatus for addressing video RAMS and refreshing a video monitor with a variable resolution |
| GB8614874D0 (en) * | 1986-06-18 | 1986-07-23 | Rca Corp | Display processor |
| JPS63168684A (en) * | 1986-12-29 | 1988-07-12 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Display device |
| US5276778A (en) * | 1987-01-08 | 1994-01-04 | Ezel, Inc. | Image processing system |
| DE3702220A1 (en) * | 1987-01-26 | 1988-08-04 | Pietzsch Ibp Gmbh | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING A TOTAL IMAGE ON A SCREEN OF A DISPLAY DEVICE |
| US4988985A (en) * | 1987-01-30 | 1991-01-29 | Schlumberger Technology Corporation | Method and apparatus for a self-clearing copy mode in a frame-buffer memory |
| US4823286A (en) * | 1987-02-12 | 1989-04-18 | International Business Machines Corporation | Pixel data path for high performance raster displays with all-point-addressable frame buffers |
| JPS63265292A (en) * | 1987-04-22 | 1988-11-01 | シャープ株式会社 | Display device |
| US5283866A (en) * | 1987-07-09 | 1994-02-01 | Ezel, Inc. | Image processing system |
| US5553170A (en) * | 1987-07-09 | 1996-09-03 | Ezel, Inc. | High speed image processing system having a preparation portion and a converting portion generating a processed image based on the preparation portion |
| US5276804A (en) * | 1988-04-27 | 1994-01-04 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Display control system with memory access timing based on display mode |
| US4962463A (en) * | 1988-07-01 | 1990-10-09 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Video imaging device with image altering controls and related method |
| US5161221A (en) * | 1988-12-12 | 1992-11-03 | Eastman Kodak Company | Multi-memory bank system for receiving continuous serial data stream and monitoring same to control bank switching without interrupting continuous data flow rate |
| JP2502728B2 (en) * | 1989-02-13 | 1996-05-29 | 松下電器産業株式会社 | Video data processor |
| JPH04226495A (en) * | 1990-05-10 | 1992-08-17 | Internatl Business Mach Corp <Ibm> | Apparatus, system and method for controlling overlay plane in graphic display system |
| US5179639A (en) * | 1990-06-13 | 1993-01-12 | Massachusetts General Hospital | Computer display apparatus for simultaneous display of data of differing resolution |
| US5386503A (en) * | 1992-06-16 | 1995-01-31 | Honeywell Inc. | Method for controlling window displays in an open systems windows environment |
| US7426594B1 (en) * | 2004-10-08 | 2008-09-16 | Nvidia Corporation | Apparatus, system, and method for arbitrating between memory requests |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4197590A (en) * | 1976-01-19 | 1980-04-08 | Nugraphics, Inc. | Method for dynamically viewing image elements stored in a random access memory array |
| US4149145A (en) * | 1977-02-17 | 1979-04-10 | Xerox Corporation | Fax processor |
| US4180805A (en) * | 1977-04-06 | 1979-12-25 | Texas Instruments Incorporated | System for displaying character and graphic information on a color video display with unique multiple memory arrangement |
| US4254409A (en) * | 1978-12-15 | 1981-03-03 | Quality Micro Systems, Inc. | Control system for full line variable height and width character and symbol printing |
| JPS55166687A (en) * | 1979-06-13 | 1980-12-25 | Hitachi Ltd | Graphic display unit |
| US4496944A (en) * | 1980-02-29 | 1985-01-29 | Calma Company | Graphics display system and method including associative addressing |
| US4439760A (en) * | 1981-05-19 | 1984-03-27 | Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated | Method and apparatus for compiling three-dimensional digital image information |
| JPS5872990A (en) * | 1981-10-28 | 1983-05-02 | 株式会社サイラック | Color graphic generation system |
| SE431597B (en) * | 1982-06-24 | 1984-02-13 | Asea Ab | DEVICE FOR PRESENTING GRAPHIC INFORMATION IN THE FORM OF SYMBOLS OF ANY SIZE ON A SCREEN SCREEN |
| JPS5979293A (en) * | 1982-10-29 | 1984-05-08 | 株式会社東芝 | Display |
| US4496976A (en) * | 1982-12-27 | 1985-01-29 | Rockwell International Corporation | Reduced memory graphics-to-raster scan converter |
| SE448789B (en) * | 1983-03-29 | 1987-03-16 | Ericsson Telefon Ab L M | DEVICE FOR GENERATING IMAGES IN A COMPUTER PRESENTATION SYSTEM RASTER ON A SCREEN SCREEN |
| US4591842A (en) * | 1983-05-26 | 1986-05-27 | Honeywell Inc. | Apparatus for controlling the background and foreground colors displayed by raster graphic system |
| JPS60245034A (en) * | 1984-05-18 | 1985-12-04 | Ascii Corp | Display controller |
-
1985
- 1985-04-08 US US06/721,021 patent/US4663619A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1986
- 1986-02-11 NO NO860489A patent/NO174405C/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1986-02-19 ZA ZA861233A patent/ZA861233B/en unknown
- 1986-02-19 AU AU53742/86A patent/AU587422B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1986-02-24 CA CA000502582A patent/CA1253258A/en not_active Expired
- 1986-04-08 DE DE86302592T patent/DE3688145T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1986-04-08 JP JP61079346A patent/JPH07120426B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1986-04-08 EP EP86302592A patent/EP0201210B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1986-07-09 IN IN186/BOM/86A patent/IN165062B/en unknown
- 1986-07-09 IN IN187/BOM/86A patent/IN165063B/en unknown
-
1993
- 1993-05-12 SG SG624/93A patent/SG62493G/en unknown
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPS61235988A (en) | 1986-10-21 |
| ZA861233B (en) | 1986-10-29 |
| NO174405C (en) | 1994-04-27 |
| AU587422B2 (en) | 1989-08-17 |
| EP0201210A3 (en) | 1990-06-27 |
| EP0201210B1 (en) | 1993-03-31 |
| JPH07120426B2 (en) | 1995-12-20 |
| SG62493G (en) | 1993-08-06 |
| DE3688145D1 (en) | 1993-05-06 |
| NO174405B (en) | 1994-01-17 |
| NO860489L (en) | 1986-10-09 |
| US4663619A (en) | 1987-05-05 |
| AU5374286A (en) | 1986-10-16 |
| EP0201210A2 (en) | 1986-11-12 |
| IN165062B (en) | 1989-08-12 |
| DE3688145T2 (en) | 1993-11-04 |
| IN165063B (en) | 1989-08-12 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| MKEX | Expiry |