A system and associated method are provided for processing pixel data in a
graphics pipeline. Included is a triangle module coupled to a rasterizer
for calculating a plurality of equations using pixel data received from
the rasterizer. Also provided is a shader core module coupled to the
rasterizer for receiving the pixel data therefrom. The shader core module
is further coupled to the triangle module for receiving the equations
therefrom. The shader core module functions to execute floating point
calculations and generating texture coordinates using the pixel data.
Coupled to the shader core module is a texture module. The texture module
is capable of looking up texture values using the texture coordinates.
Associated therewith is a shader back end module coupled to the texture
module and the triangle module. The shader back end module is capable of
converting the texture values to an appropriate floating point
representation and generating color values using the equations. Still yet,
a combiner module is coupled to the shader core module and the shader back
end module. Such combiner module combines the color values and the texture
values.
