Graphic data processing apparatus and method
Contents
1. 0056 For example FIGS 3A to 3C are views illustrating an example of a screen divided into two partitions for pro cessing graphic data Referring to FIG 3A to 3C the dividing unit 70 divides the graphic data such that the entire screen FIG 3A of the display unit 90 can be split into two areas in a horizontal direction FIG 3B or vertical direction FIG 3C The graphic data are divided in such a manner that graphic data in an area A of the split areas are processed by the second core 24 and graphic data in an area B of the split areas are processed by the GPU 32 This method is the same as the split frame rendering SFR among the methods ofrendering a screen in the scalable link interface SLI of Gforce 0057 Returning to FIG 2 the graphic data divided by the dividing unit 70 in step S50 are transferred to the second core 24 and the GPU 32 respectively through the comparison control unit 50a or the North Bridge 50 0058 Then the second core 24 and the GPU 32 respec tively process the transferred divided graphic data in parallel step S60 0059 The graphic data processed by the second core 24 are transferred to the combining unit 80 through the compari son control unit 50a or the North Bridge 50 and the graphic data processed by the GPU 32 are transferred to the combin ing unit 80 through the GPU 32 At this time the second core 24 andthe GPU 32 output the graphic data in synchronization with each other 0060 Th2. 3B Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 6 of 6 US 2009 0027403 Al FIG 3C US 2009 0027403 Al GRAPHIC DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD 0001 This nonprovisional application claims the priority benefit of Korean Application No 10 2007 0075273 filed on Jul 26 2007 the entirety ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 1 Field ofthe Invention 0003 The present invention relates to graphic data pro cessing and more particularly to an apparatus and method for processing graphic data wherein the usage levels ofa graph ics processing unit GPU and a central processing unit CPU are checked to allow graphic data to be processed either only by the GPU or in parallel by both the GPU and the CPU 0004 2 Description of the Related Art 0005 Generally a graphics card which is also called a video card a video display card a video controller or the like serves to convert digital information generated by a personal computer PC system into analog signals and to transmit the analog signals to a display unit 0006 Recently as functions of a graphics card are extended from two dimensional 2D to three dimensional 3D graphic processing the importance of the graphics card in the PC system is further increased 0007 However the performance of the graphics card is determined in accordance with a graphics processing unit hereinafter referred to as a
3. and controlling at least one of the GPU and the CPU to allow the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the GPU and the CPU or only by the GPU according to the com parison results Jan 29 2009 13 The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the con trolling step allows the graphic data to be processed only by the GPU ifit is determined that the checked usage level of the GPU is not larger than the usage level reference of the GPU and the checked usage level of the CPU is not smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 14 The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the con trolling step allows the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the GPU and the CPU if it is determined that the checked usage level of the GPU is larger than the usage level reference of the GPU and the checked usage level of the CPU is smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 15 The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the con trolling step allows the graphic data to be processed only by the GPU ifit is determined that the checked usage level of the GPU is not larger than the usage level reference of the GPU or the checked usage level of the CPU is not smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 16 The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the con trolling step allows the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the GPU and the CPU if it is determined that the checked usage level of the GPU is larger than the usage l
4. 32 and the CPU 20 to the comparison control unit 50a step S20 For instance how much e g what percentage of the total processing capacity of the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 is currently being used can be determined by the usage checking unit 40 0051 Accordingly the comparison control unit 50a com pares the checked usage levels of the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 with a predetermined first usage level reference and a second usage level reference respectively step S30 In one embodi ment at step S30 if it is determined that the GPU s current usage level is greater than the first usage level reference and that the CPU s current usage level is less than the second usage level reference then the method proceeds to step S40 or otherwise to step S32 In another embodiment at step 30 if it is determined either that the GPU s current usage level is greater than the first usage level reference or that the CPU s current usage level is less than the second usage level refer ence then the method can proceed to step S40 If not the method proceeds to step S32 0052 Here the predetermined usage level references may be set by auser or arbitrarily set to default values Further one or more reference values may be used to compare with each of the current usage levels of the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 For instance two values 50 and 75 can be used as refer ences In such an example if the GPU 32 s current usage level is at or above 75 then
5. According to another embodiment the present invention provides a method of processing graphic data com prising applying a command for processing graphic data checking a usage level ofa GPU and or a usage level of a CPU in response to the applied command comparing the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference of the GPU and or the checked usage level of the CPU with a usage level reference of the CPU assigning one of cores of the CPU to process the graphic data based on the comparison results dividing the graphic data to allow the divided graphic data to be processed in parallel by the assigned core of the CPU and the GPU and combining the divided graphic data to allow the combined graphic data to be displayed on a display unit 0029 These and other objects of the present application will become more readily apparent from the detailed descrip tion given hereinafter However it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples while indicat ing preferred embodiments of the invention are given by way of illustration only since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed descrip tion BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0030 The above and other objects features and advan tages of the present invention will become apparent from the Jan 29 2009 following descriptions of preferred embo
6. GPU Therefore if an amount of data to be processed by the GPU is large and the GPU is overloaded the processing rate of the graphics card is reduced 0008 Accordingly even though a PC system is capable of providing excellent performance there is a problem in that if the processing is delayed due to the overloading of the GPU the performance of the PC system may be degraded SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0009 The present invention is conceived to address the aforementioned problems and limitations associated with the related art Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for processing graphic data wherein use rates or usage of a GPU and a CPU are checked to allow the graphic data to be processed only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU 0010 According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a graphic data processing apparatus which comprises a dual core CPU a GPU for processing graphic data a processing amount check unit for checking processing amounts of the CPU and the GPU and a control unit for comparing the checked processing amounts of the CPU and the GPU with reference processing amounts ofthe CPU and the GPU respectively to allow the graphic data to be pro cessed in parallel by the CPU and the GPU or only by the GPU according to the result of the comparison 0011 The control unit may control processing the graphic data only by the GPU if i
7. for allowing both the CPU all cores such as first and second cores etc of the CPU and the GPU to process the data and the third choice 66 is for allowing certain cores of the CPU e g only one core such as the second core 24 of the CPU and the GPU to process the data Other examples are possible As an alternative it is automatically determined whether the graphic data are processed only by the GPU 32 or in parallel by the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 depending on the determined current usage levels of the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 0047 Hereinafter a method of processing graphic data according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS 2 and 3 This method is implemented in the apparatus of FIG 1 but can be implemented in other suitable system 0048 First referring to FIG 2 the CPU 20 accesses the memory 10 to perform a specific operating process in accor dance with an application program execution command and provides the North Bridge 50 with a graphic data processing command corresponding to the operating process step S10 0049 Then the comparison control unit 50a transfers the graphic data to the graphics card 30 0050 If the graphic data are transferred to the graphics card 30 the usage level checking unit 40 checks processing amounts usage levels of the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 that are currently being driven and continuously sends the checked usage levels of the GPU
8. the method may proceed to step S40 If the GPU s current usage level is between 50 and 75 then the current mode of the system is maintained the mode is not switched to a different mode If the GPU s current usage level is below 50 then the method may proceed to step 32 0053 Ifitis determined in step S30 that the usage level of the GPU 32 is larger than the first reference and in another example or the usage level of the CPU 20 is also smaller than the second reference the comparison control unit 50a US 2009 0027403 Al assigns the second core 24 to perform a function ofthe GPU step S40 At this time since the comparison control unit50a assigns the second core 24 to perform a function ofthe GPU the first core 22 ofthe CPU 20 processes system data and the second core 24 and the GPU 32 process the graphic data in parallel 0054 Then since the second core 24 is assigned to process the graphic data the comparison control unit 50a transfers the graphic data to the dividing unit 70 0055 Ifthe graphic data are transferred by the comparison control unit 50a the dividing unit 70 divides the graphic data into parts to be processed respectively by the second core 24 and the GPU 32 step S50 Here the graphic data are divided in order to partition each frame into two predetermined areas such that the graphic data contained in the partitioned areas can be processed by the second core 24 and the GPU 32 respectively
9. US 20090027403A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2009 0027403 A1 Jung 43 Pub Date Jan 29 2009 54 GRAPHIC DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS Publication Classification AND METHOD 51 Int Cl 75 Inventor Chang Kwon Jung Seoul Si KR GO6F 15 80 2006 01 52 USHC 2 gr Saal cc iaa eerste becton 345 505 Correspondence Address BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH amp BIRCH 57 ABSTRACT PO BOX 747 The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing graphic data According to an embodiment the graphic data processing apparatus includes a CPU having at FALLS CHURCH VA 22040 0747 US Pas en Eres DROEG least one core a GPU configured to process graphic data a usage level checking unit configured to check a usage level of 21 Appl No 12 052 488 the CPU and or a usage level of the GPU and a control unit configured to compare the checked usage level of the CPU 22 Filed Mar 20 2008 with a usage level reference of the CPU and or to compare the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference 30 Foreign Application Priority Data of the GPU to allow the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the CPU and the GPU or only by the GPU accord Jul 26 2007 KR ae 10 2007 0075273 ing to the comparison results Apply command for processing graphic data f S70 Cheek usage level of GPU and or CPU S20 GPU s usage level gt reference and or CPU s usage level lt refer
10. bining unit 8 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a user selection unit configured to allow a user to manually select whether to process the graphic data only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU 9 The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the manual selection of the user made through the user selection unit is overridden by the control unit based on current battery infor mation associated with the apparatus 10 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the usage levels are use rates for processing the graphic data or system data 11 A data processing apparatus comprising a dual core CPU a GPU configured to process graphic data a usage level checking unit configured to check a usage level of the CPU and a usage level of the GPU and a control unit configured to control one core of the dual core CPU to process system data and another core of the dual core CPU to be assigned to the GPU for processing the graphic data in accordance with the checked usage levels of the GPU and the CPU provided by the usage level checking unit 12 A method of processing graphic data comprising applying a command for processing graphic data checking a usage level of a GPU and or a usage level of a CPU in response to the applied command comparing the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference of the GPU and or the checked usage level of the CPU with a usage level reference of the CPU
11. ce amount and the provided processing amount of the CPU 20 is smaller than the second reference the comparison control unit 50a controls so that the graphic data are processed in parallel by both the second core 24 and the GPU 32 0041 That is the comparison control unit 50a assigns the second core 24 of the CPU 20 to perform a function of the GPU and thus the graphic data are processed in parallel by the second core 24 and the GPU 32 The comparison control unit 50a can be part of the North Bridge 50 or can reside in other components of the system 0042 In addition when the second core 24 and the GPU 32 are to process the graphic data in parallel under the control of the comparison control unit 50a the comparison control unit 50a or the North Bridge 50 transfers the graphic data to be processed to a data dividing unit 70 hereinafter referred to as a dividing unit which in turn can divide the graphic data and forward the divided graphic data respectively to the sec ond core 24 and the GPU 32 for processing In addition the North Bridge 50 or the comparison control unit 50a trans fers the graphic data processed by the second core 24 and or the graphic data processed by the GPU 32 to a data combining unit 80 hereinafter referred to as a combining unit so that they may be combined as desired 0043 For example once the graphic data to be processed are received through the North Bridge 50 the dividing unit 70 divi
12. d described in connection with the accompanying drawings and the preferred embodiments the present invention is not lim ited thereto and is defined by the appended claims Therefore it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined by the appended claims What is claimed is 1 A graphic data processing apparatus comprising a CPU having at least one core a GPU configured to process graphic data a usage level checking unit configured to check a usage level of the CPU and or a usage level of the GPU and a control unit configured to compare the checked usage level of the CPU with a usage level reference of the CPU and or to compare the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference of the GPU to allow the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the CPU and the GPU or only by the GPU according to the compari son results 2 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control unit allows processing of the graphic data only by the GPU if the contro unit determines that the checked usage level of the GPU is not larger than the usage level reference of the GPU and the checked usage level of the CPU is not smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 3 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control unit allows processing of the graphic data in parallel by the GPU and th
13. d 24 processes system data while the other of the first and second cores 22 and 24 pro cesses graphic data under the control ofa North Bridge 50 that will be described below Here the second core 24 may be assigned to process graphic data 0037 The graphic data processing apparatus further com prises a graphics card 30 for receiving the graphic data through the North Bridge 50 in accordance with the command applied by the CPU 20 and converting the graphic data into image signals to display the graphic data on a display unit 90 0038 The graphics card 30 is provided with a graphics processing unit GPU 32 for processing the received graphic data As an alternative the GPU 32 can be part ofthe North Bridge 50 on a single chip 0039 In addition the graphic data processing apparatus further comprises a usage checking unit 40 or processing amount checking unit for checking the resource use rates i e the usage levels of the CPU 20 and the GPU 32 The usage levels of the CPU 20 and the GPU 32 represent how much or what percentage of the CPU 20 and GPU 32 has been used or involved in processing data and may also be referred to herein as processing amounts of the CPU 20 and the GPU 32 Here it is preferred that a real time assessment of the usage levels of the CPU 20 and GPU 32 is made by the usage checking unit 40 and such assessment may be performed at regular intervals continuously or at a desired time As an example the usag
14. des the received graphic data For instance the graphic data are divided to partition each frame into two predeter mined areas such that the graphic data contained in the par titioned areas can be processed in parallel respectively by the second core 24 and the GPU 32 0044 If the graphic data processed respectively by the second core 24 and the GPU 32 are transferred the combining unit 80 combines the transferred graphic data 0045 The North Bridge 50 the combining unit 80 and the dividing unit 70 can be integrated into one component Fur ther all the components of the graphic data processing appa ratus are operatively coupled and configured 0046 In addition the graphic data processing apparatus further comprises a user selection unit 60 for allowing a user to manually select whether to process the graphic data only by the GPU 32 or in parallel by both the second core 24 and the GPU 32 For example the user selection unit 60 provides a graphical display menu on the display unit 90 which can be implemented by a user selection program installed in the user selection unit 60 so that the user can make a selection of desired processor Buttons keys etc can also be provided to Jan 29 2009 such user s manual selection For instance as shown in FIG 1B amenu provides three different choices or modes 62 64 66 for a user wherein the first choice 62 is for allowing only the GPU to process the data the second choice 64 is
15. diments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which 0031 FIG 1A is a view showing an example of the con figuration of a graphic data processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention 0032 FIG 1B is an example of a menu displayable for a user s selection of a use of a GPU and or a CPU according to an embodiment of the present invention 0033 FIG 2 is a flowchart illustrating a graphic data pro cessing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and 0034 FIGS 3A to 3C are views showing an example in which a screen is split to divide graphic data to be processed into certain areas according to an embodiment ofthe present invention DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0035 Hereinafter a graphic data processing apparatus according to the preferred embodiments ofthe present inven tion will be described in detail with reference to the accom panying drawings 0036 Referring to FIG 1A the graphic data processing apparatus according to an embodiment comprises a central processing unit CPU 20 configured to access a memory 10 or other storage unit to execute a variety of application programs and to apply a command for processing graphic data relevant to the application programs The CPU 20 is preferably a dual core CPU including a first core 22 and a second core 24 but can of other type As an example one of the first and second cores 22 an
16. e CPU if the control unit determines that the checked usage level of the GPU is larger than the usage level reference of the GPU and the checked usage level of the CPU is smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 4 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control unit allows processing of the graphic data only by the GPU if US 2009 0027403 Al the control unit determines that the checked usage level of the GPU is not larger than the usage level reference of the GPU or the checked usage level of the CPU is not smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 5 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control unit allows processing of the graphic data in parallel by the GPU and the CPU if the control unit determines that the checked usage level ofthe GPU is larger than the usage level reference ofthe GPU or the checked usage level ofthe CPU is smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 6 The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a data dividing unit configured to receive the graphic data from the control unit and to divide the received graphic data and a data combining unit configured to combine after the GPU and the CPU have respectively processed the divided graphic data the processed graphic data to dis play the combined graphic data on a display unit 7 The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the control unit transfers the graphic data processed by the CPU to the data com
17. e checking unit 40 can be a task manager of Windows provided by Microsoft Corporation and a driver corresponding to the graphics card 30 The usage of the CPU 20 and or GPU 32 may be measured or determined by mea suring an idle tread value of the CPU 20 and or GPU 32 fora predetermined period of time or by detecting the CPU GPU usage from the registry information of the computer system US 2009 0027403 Al 0040 The graphic data processing apparatus further com prises the North Bridge 50 which includes a comparison control unit 50a for comparing ifthe usage levels ofthe GPU 32 andthe CPU 20 checked by the usage checking unit 40 are provided the provided usage levels of the GPU 32 and the CPU 20 with a predetermined usage level reference of the GPU 32 hereinafter also referred to as a first reference and a predetermined usage level reference of the CPU 20 here inafter also referred to as a second reference respectively According to a preferred embodiment if the comparison con trol unit 50a determined that the provided usage level of the GPU 32 is smaller than or not larger than the first reference and the provided usage level of the CPU 20 is larger than or not smaller than the second reference the comparison con trol unit 50a controls the GPU 32 so that the graphic data are processed only by the GPU 32 On the contrary if it is deter mined that the provided usage level of the GPU 32 is larger than the first referen
18. e combining unit 80 that has received the output ted graphic data combines the graphic data such that the combined graphic data can be displayed as a full screen on the display unit 90 step S70 If the graphics card has a band width of a 16x speed slot the combining unit 80 receives graphic data through a bandwidth of an 8x speed slot and then combines the received graphic data 0061 The combined graphic data are displayed on the display unit 90 through the graphics card 30 step S80 0062 On the other hand ifit is determined in step S30 that the current usage level of the GPU 32 is not larger than the first usage level reference and or the current usage level of the CPU 20 is not smaller than the second usage level reference the comparison control unit 50a controls so that the graphic data are processed only by the GPU 32 step S32 0063 According to an embodiment in the example of FIG 1A the user can select an appropriate mode according the amount of processing needs Various modes can be avail able to the user For instance the mode 64 may be a graphics mode for movies games etc Further while the GPU and or CPU is running the comparison control unit 50a can receive Jan 29 2009 current battery information e g from OS and automatically switch to an appropriate mode e g one ofthe modes 62 64 66 depending on the battery information In this manner the system is able to check the current battery level and over
19. ence No 530 Yes Assing CPU s second core to GPU S40 Divide graphic data S50 A Lea only by GPU Allow divided graphic data to be processed 860 in parallel by GPU and second core Combine processed graphic deta S70 Display combined graphic data on display unit S80 Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 1 of 6 US 2009 0027403 Al FIG 1A Second core Graphics card North Bridge Comparisom control unit Display unit Memory Data dividing unit Data combining unit unit 80 70 60 Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 2 of 6 US 2009 0027403 Al FIG 1B O GPU only CPU all cores and GPU O CPU one core only and GPU Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 3 of 6 US 2009 0027403 Al FIG 2 Apply command for processing graphic data f S70 Cheek usage level of GPU and or CPU S20 GPU s usage level gt reference and or CPU s usage level lt reference Yes Assing CPU s second core to GPU Divide graphic data Allow divided graphic data to be processed in parallel by GPU and second core Combine processed graphic data Display combined graphic 580 data on display unit Allow graphic data to be processed S32 only by GPU Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 4 of 6 US 2009 0027403 Al FIG 3A Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 5 of 6 US 2009 0027403 Al FIG
20. evel ofthe CPU with a usage level reference ofthe CPU and or to compare the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference of the GPU to allow the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the CPU and the GPU or only by the GPU according to the comparison results 0026 According to an embodiment the present invention provides a data processing apparatus comprising a dual core CPU aGPU configured to process graphic data a usage level checking unit configured to check a usage level of the CPU and a usage level of the GPU and a control unit configured to control one core ofthe dual core CPU to process system data and another core ofthe dual core CPU to be assigned to the GPU for processing the graphic data in accordance with the checked usage levels of the GPU and the CPU provided by the usage level checking unit 0027 According to an embodiment the present invention provides a method of processing graphic data comprising applying a command for processing graphic data checking a usage level of a GPU and or a usage level of a CPU in response to the applied command comparing the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference of the GPU and or the checked usage level of the CPU with a usage level reference of the CPU and controlling at least one of the GPU and the CPU to allow the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the GPU and the CPU or only by the GPU accord ing to the comparison results 0028
21. evel reference of the GPU or the checked usage level of the CPU is smaller than the usage level reference of the CPU 17 The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising receiving a user s manual selection on whether to process the graphic data only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU and controlling at least one of the GPU and the CPU based on the user s manual selection 18 The apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein the user s manual selection is overridden based on current battery information 19 A method of processing graphic data comprising applying a command for processing graphic data checking a usage level of a GPU and or a usage level of a CPU in response to the applied command comparing the checked usage level of the GPU with a usage level reference of the GPU and or the checked usage level of the CPU with a usage level reference of the CPU assigning one of cores of the CPU to process the graphic data based on the comparison results dividing the graphic data to allow the divided graphic data to be processed in parallel by the assigned core of the CPU and the GPU and combining the divided graphic data to allow the combined graphic data to be displayed on a display unit 20 The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the divid ing step comprises dividing the graphic data according to split areas on an entire screen of the display unit x x x x ka
22. he GPU for processing the graphic data in accor dance with the processing amounts e g usage levels of the GPU and the CPU provided by the processing amount check unit 0017 The processing amounts may be use rates for pro cessing the graphic data or system data 0018 According to another aspect of the present inven tion there is provided a method of processing graphic data which comprises the steps of applying a command for pro cessing graphic data checking processing amounts of a GPU and a CPU in response to the applied command comparing the checked processing amounts of the GPU and the CPU with reference processing amounts of the GPU and the CPU respectively and controlling the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the GPU and the CPU or only by the GPU according to the result of the comparison 0019 Thecontrolling step may comprise the step of allow ing the graphic data to be processed only by the GPU if it is determined in the comparison that the processing amount of the GPU is smaller than the reference processing amount of the GPU and or the processing amount of the CPU is larger than the reference processing amount of the CPU 0020 Thecontrolling step may comprise the step of allow ing the graphic data to be processed in parallel by the GPU and the CPU if it is determined in the comparison that the processing amount of the GPU is larger than the reference processing amount of the GPU and or the processing am
23. ount of the CPU is smaller than the reference processing amount of the CPU 0021 The controlling step may comprise the steps of assigning one of cores of the CPU to process the graphic data dividing the graphic data to allow the divided graphic data to be processed in parallel by the assigned core and the GPU and combining the divided graphic data to allow the com bined graphic data to be displayed as a frame on a monitor 0022 The dividing step may comprise the step of dividing graphic data according to split areas on an entire screen of the monitor 0023 Thecombining step may comprise the step of allow ing the graphic data processed by the assigned core to be transferred through the control unit and the graphic data pro cessed by the GPU to be transferred through the GPU respec tively in synchronization with each other US 2009 0027403 Al 0024 According to the present invention there is an advantage in that use rates of the GPU and the CPU are checked to allow graphic data to be processed only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU according to the checked use rates 0025 According to an embodiment the present invention provides a graphic data processing apparatus comprising a CPU having at least one core a GPU configured to process graphic data a usage level checking unit configured to check a usage levelofthe CPU and or a usage level ofthe GPU and a control unit configured to compare the checked usage l
24. ride the user selected mode 62 64 or 66 if needed For instance if the user selected the mode 66 and the current battery level is detected to be below 50 then the system may switch the mode to the mode 62 Other variations are possible For example two or more thresholds can be used to switch between the modes 62 64 and 66 Also anytime the mode switch is made due to the user s selection or system s selec tion the user may be notified of the mode switch and or the new mode of the system Such notification can be made visually and or audibly through the apparatus of FIG 1A 0064 The present invention described in the aforemen tioned embodiments is advantageous in that since use rates of the GPU and the CPU are checked to allow graphic data to be processed only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU or parts thereof the GPU is not overloaded 0065 According to a graphic data processing apparatus and method of the present invention as described above there still is an advantage in that use rates of the GPU and the CPU are checked to allow graphic data to be processed only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU or parts thereof depending on the checked use rates 0066 Further if the GPU and the CPU are allowed to process graphic data in parallel the performance of two graphics cards is improved and thus the cost and volume reduction can be made 0067 While the present invention has been illustrated an
25. tis determined from the comparison that the processing amount of the GPU is smaller or not larger than the reference processing amount of the GPU and or the processing amount of the CPU is larger or not smaller than the reference processing amount of the CPU Jan 29 2009 0012 The control unit may control processing the graphic data in parallel by the GPU and the CPU if it is determined from the comparison that the processing amount of the GPU is larger than the reference processing amount of the GPU and or the processing amount of the CPU is also smaller than the reference processing amount of the CPU 0013 The graphic data processing apparatus may further comprise a data dividing unit for receiving the graphic data from the control unit and dividing the received graphic data and a data combining unit for combining after the GPU and the CPU have processed the divided graphic data the pro cessed graphic data to display the combined graphic data on a display unit such as a monitor 0014 The control unit may transfer the graphic data pro cessed by the CPU to the data combining unit 0015 The graphic data processing apparatus may further comprise a user selection unit for allowing a user to manually select whether to process the graphic data only by the GPU or in parallel by the GPU and the CPU 0016 The control unit may control one of the cores of the dual core CPU to process system data and another core to be assigned to t
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