Advanced video object generator

Claim 2

An advanced object generator comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of objects for retrieval and processing for video display; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating valid pixel-by-pixel image data; translucency code storage means for storing predetermined translucency factors for selected cells of the object faces; translucency code processing means for calculating translucency factors on a pixel-by-pixel basis for said selected cells of said object faces; span processing means for applying said variable translucency factors to computation of pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 3

The invention of claim 1 wherein said translucency code processing means comprises; means for selecting one translucency map from a plurality of translucency maps, for each of the object faces to be processed for display upon said video monitor; and means for multiplying a translucency code for each pixel in an object face retrieved from said one translucency map by the cell data for each pixel of said object face.

Claim 4

An advanced object generator comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of objects; said cell data including data stored for each three-dimensional object on a plurality of planes; said planes being arranged in such a manner as to respectively present a plurality of viewing angles relative to a given viewpoint; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating the pixel-by-pixel image data; means for receiving image data from said vector processing means for selecting image data projected from selected ones of said plurality of planes for processing for video display; means for calculating an edge-on fading factor for each face of said plurality of faces for each object tc be displayed; span processing means for applying said edge-on fading factors to said pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 5

An advanced object generator comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of objects; said cell data including data stored for each three-dimensional object on a plurality of planes; said planes being arranged in such a manner as to respectively present a plurality of viewing angles relative to a given viewpoint; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating the pixel-by-pixel image data; means for receiving image data from said vector processing means for selecting image data projected from selected ones of said plurality of planes for processing for video display; means for calculating an edge-on fading factor for each face of said plurality of faces for each object tc be displayed; span processing means for applying said edge-on fading factors to said pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 6

The invention of claim 3 wherein said means of calculating an edge-on fading factor comprises: means for calculating a viewing angle between a viewray extending from the viewer's viewpoint to the object being displayed and the respective planes of the object being displayed; and translucency threshold calculation means for providing a multiplier for each respective plane of a three-dimensional object; said multiplier being indicative of the size of said respective viewing angle for each plane of each object to be displayed.

Claim 7

The invention of claim 4 wherein said translucency threshold calculation means comprises: means for receiving viewing angle data for each respective face of an object from said means for cal- culatin g a viewing angle; means for comparing each said respective viewing angle with a predetermined minimum angle and a predetermined maximum angle; means for calculating a translucency coefficient for each said respective face when said viewing angle is between said minimum and said maximum viewing angles; means for making each said respective face completely transparent when said viewing angle is less than said minimum viewing angle; and means for supplying said respective translucency coefficient to said span processing means.

Claim 8

The invention of claim 5 wherein said means for calculating a translucency coefficient comprises: means for calculating a translucency coefficient when a respective one of said viewing angles is less than 36 degrees and greater than 18 degrees.

Claim 9

The invention of claim 6 wherein each said plurality of planes comprises: a plurality of planes intersecting along a line within a respective object.

Claim 10

An advanced object generator comprising: object data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of levels of detail of a plurality of objects for retrieval and processing for video display; vector processing means for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signal for calculating the pixel-by-pixel display data; first level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a first level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; second level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a second level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; level of detail blending means for combining the data for said first level of detail and the data for said second level of detail'into a single level of detail output for each pixel of an image of said object; span processing means for translating said level of detail output into pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying a plurality of said images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 11

An advanced object generator comprising: object data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of levels of detail of a plurality of objects for retrieval and processing for video display; vector processing means for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signal for calculating the pixel-by-pixel display data; first level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a first level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; second level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a second level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; level of detail blending means for combining the data for said first level of detail and the data for said second level of detail'into a single level of detail output for each pixel of an image of said object; span processing means for translating said level of detail output into pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying a plurality of said images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 12

The invention of claim 8 wherein said first level of detail calculation means comprises: means for calculating cell image size of each cell of a scene to be displayed; means for comparing said cell image size to a previously calculated pixel dimension in order to determine which levels of detail to process; means for accessing a first computer memory look-up table having previously determined level-of detail data stored therein; and wherein second level of detail calculation means comprises: means for accessing a second computer memory look-up table having previously determined level of detail data stored therein; and means for outputting cell data previously stored in computer map memory means for each of said first and second levels of detail for each object to be displayed.

Claim 13

The invention of claim 9 wherein: said first level of detail comprises a higher level of detail; and said second level of detail comprises a lower level of detail.

Claim 14

The invention of claim 10 wherein said level of detail blending means comprises: means for receiving as inputs gradients of the image patterns upon each face image of a three-dimensional object; means for comparing said gradient with a predetermined maximum gradient for each of said two dimensions; means for comparing said gradients with predetermined values of said gradients to determine said higher level of detail; means to calculate a level of detail blend control value; means for calculating the one's complement of said level of detail blend control output; means for multiplying said level of detail blend control value by said cell data for said higher level of detail; means for multiplying said one's complement of said blend control value by said cell data for said lower level of detail; summing means for adding the outputs from said means for multiplying said level of detail blend control value and said higher-level image data to the output from said means for multiplying said one's complement of said blend control value and said lower-level image data to produce a single modulation value output for each pixel of an image.

Claim 15

The invention of claim 11 comprising: a plurality of said level of detail blending means each providing a level of detail modulation value output for a plurality of pixels of said video image.

Claim 16

An advanced object generator comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell object data for a plurality of objects for retrieval and processing for video display; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating pixel-by-pixel image data; cell texture address means for determining the memory location to be accessed for retrieval of cell texture data for display; cell texture output means for outputting said cell texture data; span processing means for translating said cell texture data into pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying images of objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 17

An advanced object generator comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell object data for a plurality of objects for retrieval and processing for video display; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating pixel-by-pixel image data; cell texture address means for determining the memory location to be accessed for retrieval of cell texture data for display; cell texture output means for outputting said cell texture data; span processing means for translating said cell texture data into pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying images of objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 18

The invention of claim 13 wherein said cell texture address means comprises: first and second floating point dual multiplier and summer means for calculating a first numerator and a second numerator needed for calculating object location coefficients for each object face to be displayed; floating point dual summer and multiplier means for calculating a denominator common to both said coefficients; means to calculate the reciprocal of said denominator; and means to multiply said denominator reciprocal by said first numerator and said second numerator and to add to the resulting quotients the reference values of said respective first and second numerators to obtain addresses on the object face corresponding to the span corner; vertical interpolator means for calculating intermediate address parameters for image texture data for image elements disposed in one dimension between points located at addresses output by said floating point dual summer and multiplier means fcr accessing texture data for predetermined columns c5 pixels on a span of said video display; and horizontal interpolator means for calculating intermediate address parameters for image texture data for image elements disposed in a second dimension on lines between points on first and second ones of said columns of pixels.

Claim 19

The invention of claim 12 further comprising bilinear interpolation means comprising: means for receiving a set of vertical and horizontal address pairs defining a span from said data memory means; means for calculating an incrementing value; incrementor means for calculating a plurality of intermediate vertical addresses defining a plurality of pixel addresses separated vertically by said incrementing value along respective left and right hand columns of pixels defining respective edges of said span; means for calculating horizontal addresses for respective rows of pixels located between respective pairs of vertically aligned,pixels of said left and right hand columns to define a complete array of pixel addresses for said span; and output means for accessing a texture map memory at each pixel address of said array of pixel addresses.

Claim 20

The invention of claim 15 wherein said means for calculating an incrementing value comprises: means for subtracting a vertical address of a first pixel at one end of a column of pixels from a vertical address of a second pixel at the other end of said column of pixels to obtain a vertical address difference; and means for dividing said vertical address difference by a predetermined constant equal to the number of desired vertical increments in said column.

Claim 21

The invention of claim 16 wherein said incrementer means comprises: adder means for repetitively adding said incrementing value to the first vertical address and outputting a new vertical address after each successive addition until the second vertical address is e q ualled.

Claim 22

The invention of claim 17 wherein said means for calculating horizontal address values comprises: first horizontal address summing means for adding two horizontal addresses input from said data memory means; first divider means for dividing the sum of said horizontal addresses to yield a span horizontal mic- pcint address; second horizontal summing means for adding a first horizontal address from said data memory means and said horizontal midpoint address; second divider means for dividing the sum of said first horizontal address and said horizontal midpoint address to yield a one-fourth span horizontal address; third horizontal summing means for adding a second horizontal address from said data memory means and said horizontal midpoint address; and third divider means for dividing the sum of said second horizontal address and said horizontal midpoint address to yield a three-fourths span horizontal address.

Claim 23

An advanced object generator for providing computer generated image control signals for real-time display comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of levels of detail for a plurality of objects for retrieval and computer processing for video display; said cell data including data stored for each three-dimensional objection a plurality of planes; said planes being arranged in such manner as to respectively present a plurality of viewing angles to a given viewpoint; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating valid pixel-by-pixel image data; translucency code storage means for storing predetermined translucency factors for selected cells of the object faces; translucency code processing means for calculating translucency factors on a pixel-by-pixel basis for said selected cells of said object; means for receiving image data from said vector processing means for selecting image data projected from selected ones of said plurality of planes for processing for video display; means for calculating an edge-on fading factor for each face of said plurality of faces for each 'object to be displayed; first level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a first level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; second level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a second level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; level of detail blending means for combining the data for said first level of detail with the data for said second level of detail into a single level of detail output for each pixel of a video image of said object; bilinear interpolation means for calculating pixel-by-pixel address data for each span to be processed; cell texture address means for determining the memory location to be accessed for retrieval of cell texture data; output means for outputting pixel-by-pixel image control data; span processing means for receiving said pixel-by-pixel image control data and translating said image control data into pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying a plurality of said images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 24

An advanced object generator for providing computer generated image control signals for real-time display comprising: data memory means for storing cell-by-cell data for a plurality of levels of detail for a plurality of objects for retrieval and computer processing for video display; said cell data including data stored for each three-dimensional objection a plurality of planes; said planes being arranged in such manner as to respectively present a plurality of viewing angles to a given viewpoint; vector processing means for calculating object transformations for translating operator inputs into image orientation control signals for calculating valid pixel-by-pixel image data; translucency code storage means for storing predetermined translucency factors for selected cells of the object faces; translucency code processing means for calculating translucency factors on a pixel-by-pixel basis for said selected cells of said object; means for receiving image data from said vector processing means for selecting image data projected from selected ones of said plurality of planes for processing for video display; means for calculating an edge-on fading factor for each face of said plurality of faces for each 'object to be displayed; first level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a first level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; second level of detail calculation means for calculating address data for retrieval from said object data memory means of data for a second level of detail for each of said object images to be processed for video display; level of detail blending means for combining the data for said first level of detail with the data for said second level of detail into a single level of detail output for each pixel of a video image of said object; bilinear interpolation means for calculating pixel-by-pixel address data for each span to be processed; cell texture address means for determining the memory location to be accessed for retrieval of cell texture data; output means for outputting pixel-by-pixel image control data; span processing means for receiving said pixel-by-pixel image control data and translating said image control data into pixel-by-pixel display data; and video monitor means for displaying a plurality of said images of said objects comprising pixel-by-pixel displays of said display data.

Claim 25

The invention of claim 19 wherein said translucency code processing means comprises: means for selecting one translucency map, from a plurality of translucency maps, for each of the object faces to be processed for display upon said video monitor; and means for multiplying a translucency code for each pixel in an object retrieved from said one translucency map by the data for each pixel of said object.

Claim 26

The invention of claim 19 wherein said means of calculating an edge-on fading factor comprises: means for calculating a viewing angle between a viewray extending from the viewer's viewpoint to the object being displayed and the respective planes of the object being displayed; and translucency threshold calculation means for providing a multiplier for each respective plane of a three-dimensional object; said multiplier being indicative of the size of said respective viewing angle for each plane of each object to be displayed.

Claim 27

The invention of claim 21 wherein each said plurality of planes comprises: a plurality of planes intersecting along a line within a respective object.

Claim 28

The invention of claim 22 wherein said translucency threshold calculation means comprises: means for receiving viewing angle data for each respective face of an object from said means for calculating a viewing angle; means for comparing each said respective viewing angle with a predetermined minimum angle and a predetermined maximum angle; means for calculating a translucency coefficient for each said respective face when said viewing angle is between said minimum and said maximum viewing angles; means for making each said respective face completely transparent when said viewing angle is less than said minimum viewing angle; and means for supplying said respective translucency coefficient to said span processing means.

Claim 29

The invention cf claim 23 wherein said means for calculating a translucency coefficient comprises: means for calculating a translucency coefficient when a respective one of said viewing angles is less than 36 degrees and greater than 18 degrees.

Claim 30

The invention of claim 19 wherein said first level of detail calculation means comprises: means for calculating cell image size of each cell of a secen to be displayed; means for comparing said cell image size to a previously calculated pixel dimension in order to determine which levels of detail to process; means for accessing a first computer memory look- up table having previously determined level of detail data stored therein; and wherein said second level of detail calculation means comprises: means for accessing a second computer memory look-up table having previously determined level of detail data stored therein; and means for outputting cell data previously stored in computer map memory means for each of said first and second levels of detail for each object to be displayed.

Claim 31

The invention of claim 25 wherein: said first level of detail comprises a higher level of detail; and said second level of detail comprises a lower level of detail.

Claim 32

The invention of claim 26 wherein said level of detail blending means comprises: means for receiving as inputs gradients of the image patterns upon each face image of a three-dimensional object; means for comparing said gradient with a predetermined maximum gradient for each of said two dimensions; means for comparing said gradients with predetermined values of said gradients to determine said higher level of detail; means to calculate a level of detail blend control value; means for calculating the one's complement of said level of detail blend control output; means for multiplying said level of detail blend control value by said cell date for said higher level of detail; means for multiplying said one's complement of said blend control value by said cell data for said lower level of detail; summing means for adding the ourputs from said means for multiplying said level of detail blend control value and said higher level image data to the output from said means for multiplying said one's complement of said blend control value and said lower level image data to produce a single modulation value output for each pixel of an image.

Claim 33

The invention of claim 24 comprising: a plurality of said level of detail blending means each providing a level of detail modulation value output for a plurality of pixels of said video image.

Claim 34

The invention of claim 19 wherein said cell texture address means comprises: first and second floating point dual multiplier and summer means for calculating a first numerator and a second numerator needed for calculating the object location coefficients for each object face to be displayed; floating point dual summer and multiplier means for calculating a denominator common to both said coefficients; means to calculate the reciprocal of said denominator; and means to multiply said denominator reciprocal by said first numerator and said second numerator and tc add to the resulting quotients the reference values of said respective first and second numerators to obtain addresses on the object face corresponding to the span corner; vertical interpolator means for calculating intermediate address parameters for image texture data fcr image elements disposed in one dimension between points located at addresses output by said floating point dual summer and multiplier means for accessing texture data for predetermined columns of pixels on a span of said video display; and horizontal interpolator means for calculating intermediate address parameters for image texture data for image elements disposed in a second dimension on lines between points on first and second ones of said columns of pixels.

Claim 35

The invention cf claim 19 wherein said bilinear interpolation means comprises: means for receiving a set of vertical and horizontal address pairs defining a span from said data memory means; means for calculating an incrementing value; incrementer means for calculating a plurality of intermediate vertical addresses defining a plurality of pixel addresses separated vertically by said incrementing value along respective left and right hand columns of pixels defining respective edges of said span; means for calculating horizontal addresses for respective rows of pixels located between respective pairs of vertically aligned pixels of said left and right hand columns to define a complete array of pixel addresses for said span; and output means for accessing a texture map memory at each pixel address of said array of pixel addresses.

Claim 36

The invention of claim 30 wherein said means for calculating an incrementing value comprises: means for subtracting a vertical address of a first pixel at one end of a column of pixels from a vertical address of a second pixel at the other end of said column of pixels to obtain a vertical address difference; and means for dividing said vertical address difference by a predetermined constant equal to the number of desired vertical increments in said column.

Claim 37

The invention of claim 31 wherein said incrementer means comprises: adder means for repetitively adding said incrementing value to the first vertical address and outputting a new vertical address after each successive addition until the second vertical address is equalled.

Claim 38

The invention of claim 32 wherein said means for calculating horizontal address values comprises: first horizontal address summing means for adding two horizontal addresses input from said data memory means; first divider means for dividing the sum of said horizontal addresses to yield a span horizontal midpoint address; second horizontal summing means for adding a first horizontal address from said data memory means and said horizontal midpoint address; second divider means for dividing the sum of said first horizontal address and said horizontal midpoint address to yield a one-fourth span horizontal address; third horizontal summing means for adding a second horizontal address from said data memory means and said horizontal midpoint address; and third divider means for dividing the sum of said second horizontal address and said horizontal midpoint address to yield a three-fourths span horizontal address.