Techniques for ray cone tracing and texture filtering

A computer-implemented method for computing a texture color, the method comprising:

• determining a set of differential barycentric coordinates associated with a hit point at which a ray cone intersects a first surface within a graphics scene;
• determining a first surface spread angle associated with the hit point based on the set of differential barycentric coordinates;
• determining, based on the first surface spread angle, a width of the ray cone at a subsequent hit point where the ray cone intersects a second surface within the graphics scene;
• determining a first level-of-detail parameter value based on the width of the ray cone;
• performing one or more texture filtering operations based on the first level-of-detail parameter value;
• and
• computing a texture color based on results of the one or more texture filtering operations.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the steps of:

• determining a set of differential barycentric coordinates associated with a hit point at which a ray cone intersects a first surface within a graphics scene;
• determining a first surface spread angle associated with the hit point based on the set of differential barycentric coordinates;
• determining, based on the first surface spread angle, a width of the ray cone at a subsequent hit point where the ray cone intersects a second surface within the graphics scene;
• determining a first level-of-detail parameter value based on the width of the ray cone;
• performing one or more texture filtering operations based on the first level-of-detail parameter value;
• and
• computing a texture color based on results of the one or more texture filtering operations.

A system, comprising:

• one or more memories storing instructions;
• and
• one or more processors that are coupled to the one or more memories and, when executing the instructions, are configured to:
• determine a set of differential barycentric coordinates associated with a hit point at which a ray cone intersects a first surface within a graphics scene,
• determine a first surface spread angle associated with the hit point based on the set of differential barycentric coordinates,
• determine, based on the first surface spread angle, a width of the ray cone at a subsequent hit point where the ray cone intersects a second surface within the graphics scene,
• determine a first level-of-detail parameter value based on the width of the ray cone,
• perform one or more texture filtering operations based on the first level-of-detail parameter value, and
• compute a texture color based on results of the one or more texture filtering operations.