Scalable graphics enhancements for PA-RISC workstations

Abstract

The addition of graphics-specific features to the series 700 system architecture has improved graphics performance by 33% to 100% across various graphics workloads relative to the base system architecture. The model 730, which incorporates a 76 SPECmark PA-RISC (reduced instruction set computer) CPU, is capable of rendering over 1,000,000 3D vectors/s and 19400 independently shaded, z-buffered quadrilaterals/s using a simple entry level frame buffer. Further improvements in performance may be obtained by partitioning the graphics pipeline between the CPU and dedicated rasterization and geometry accelerators. Enhancements to the CPU include polygon rasterization with virtual memory z-buffer support, graphics-specific floating-point, and graphics-specific data path features.