Advanced graphics driver architecture with extension capability

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a computer memory, the first and second sets of function calls being stored as templates, accessible to the video manager, in the computer memory.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an operating system that facilitates concurrent processing of a plurality of program threads, each graphic operation being a thread, and wherein the video manager ensures completion of each graphic operation without interruption by other threads.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 1, said apparatus further including at least one other device driver associated with the graphics adapter, said at least one other device driver being capable of processing a separate set of function calls into driver-output signals.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said video manager further comprises means for translating graphics commands having a first format into a second format prior to routing said graphics commands to said device driver.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a position-sensing device for producing signals indicative of positions on the video display, the video manager further comprising means for operating the frame buffer to generate a pointer on the video display at the positions indicated by the signals.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a system memory that includes a partition, accessible to the video manager, containing the sets of supported function calls.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising at least one translation module for translating at least some graphics commands received from a graphics engine into supported graphics commands, wherein said at least one translation module transmits said supported graphics commands to said video manager.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one said graphics engine includes (i) means for executing graphic operations on pixel values in the frame buffer and (ii) means for requesting access to the frame buffer, the video manager according the at least one said graphics engine exclusive access to the frame buffer in response to a request.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said video manager is implemented as a program object in an object-oriented environment, said apparatus further comprising a data structure stored in memory, wherein said data structure is associated with a graphics command and includes: an identifier of a function call within said second set of function calls; and an identifier of each region within said video display which is affected by said device driver expansion module.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the video manager maintains the pointer by overwriting pixel values in the frame buffer following execution of the graphic operations.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the video manager accords exclusive access to the frame buffer following complete execution of a graphic operation.

Claim 17

A computer program product for use in a computer system having a graphics adapter configured to process driver-output signals and a device driver, associated with the graphics adapter, for processing a first set of function calls into driver-output signals, the computer program product comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for facilitating the extension of processing capabilities associated with the device driver that is configured to process function calls within a first set of function calls into driver-output signals that drive the graphics adapter, the computer readable code including: first program code, uniquely associated with the device driver, for processing function calls within a second set of function calls into driver-output signals; second program code for managing video, said second program code including: means for receiving graphics commands including a function call within said first set of function calls and said second set of function calls from a graphics engine; means for causing said computer system to route said graphics commands to the device driver; means for causing said device driver to route a function call to the first program code means for processing if the function call is a member of the second set; and a library of graphic functions, the second program code being configured to (1) locate, in the library, graphic functions corresponding to function calls, specified within graphic commands, that are not supported by any device driver in said data processing system, and (2) cause processing of the graphic functions into driver-output signals for processing by the graphics adapter.

Claim 18

A computer program product for use in a computer system having a graphics adapter configured to process driver-output signals and a device driver, associated with the graphics adapter, for processing a first set of function calls into driver-output signals, the computer program product comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for facilitating the extension of processing capabilities associated with the device driver that is configured to process function calls within a first set of function calls into driver-output signals that drive the graphics adapter, the computer readable code including: first program code, uniquely associated with the device driver, for processing function calls within a second set of function calls into driver-output signals; second program code for managing video, said second program code including: means for receiving graphics commands including a function call within said first set of function calls and said second set of function calls from a graphics engine; means for causing said computer system to route said graphics commands to the device driver; means for causing said device driver to route a function call to the first program code means for processing if the function call is a member of the second set; and a library of graphic functions, the second program code being configured to (1) locate, in the library, graphic functions corresponding to function calls, specified within graphic commands, that are not supported by any device driver in said data processing system, and (2) cause processing of the graphic functions into driver-output signals for processing by the graphics adapter.