Delta Colour Compression Tile Storage for Memory Bandwidth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional entertainment devices face limitations in memory capacity and bandwidth for data storage and communication, necessitating efficient memory usage within these constraints.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of delta colour compression (DCC) scheme, which subdivides graphics textures into tiles and uses metadata to represent uniform or similar colour tiles, reducing memory and bandwidth requirements by allowing additional data to be stored in place of pixel data without visual impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If memory capacity is increased to store more graphics data, then the available memory for other data decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments graphics textures into smaller tiles and applies DCC metadata compression selectively to uniform tiles. This segmentation allows the system to identify and compress only the portions of graphics data that are visually uniform, freeing up memory space while preserving visual quality. The selective application of compression to specific tile segments resolves the contradiction by making memory usage more efficient without sacrificing overall memory capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the representation parameters of graphics data by replacing pixel data in uniform tiles with DCC metadata (store_flag, base_colour, delta values). This parameter change reduces the memory footprint of compressed tiles while maintaining visual fidelity. By transforming the data representation from full pixel information to compact metadata, the system increases usable memory capacity without reducing total memory capacity.
2Quantity of substance
If bandwidth is increased to transmit more data between entertainment device and peripheral, then the cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes redundant pixel data from uniform tiles, replacing it with compact DCC metadata. By taking out the unnecessary full pixel information from tiles that can be accurately represented by metadata alone, the system reduces the total data volume that needs to be transmitted between the entertainment device and peripheral. This extraction principle resolves the bandwidth contradiction by reducing transmission requirements without compromising visual quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the data transmission parameters by transmitting DCC metadata (store_flag, base_colour, delta values) instead of full pixel data for uniform tiles. This parameter change reduces the amount of data that must be transmitted across the bandwidth interface, thereby reducing the required bandwidth infrastructure complexity while maintaining data transmission capacity for essential visual information.
3Reliability
If DCC metadata is stored for all tiles, then memory usage increases, but visual quality is maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies DCC metadata compression selectively based on local tile characteristics. Uniform tiles that benefit from compression are identified and compressed with DCC metadata, while non-uniform tiles retain their original pixel data. This local quality approach ensures that visual quality is maintained where needed (in non-uniform tiles) while memory usage is reduced where possible (in uniform tiles). The selective application resolves the contradiction by optimizing the balance between visual quality and memory usage on a tile-by-tile basis.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of data storage includes associating delta colour compression DCC metadata with one or more tiles of graphics data, selecting one or more such tiles that are uniform in colour and hence can be accurately represented by the DCC metadata for that tile, and replacing some or all of the graphics data in one or more selected tiles with different data.