Primitive testing for ray intersection at multiple precisions

A method, comprising:

• determining, by a graphics processor, whether a ray intersects a triangular primitive in a graphics scene, including:
• performing, by ray intersection circuitry, a reduced-precision intersection test that includes:
• determining, by error bounds circuitry, a potential error based on quantization of the primitive and the ray that generated reduced-precision representations relative to respective first representations;
• and
• performing a first ray-triangle intersection test, based on the potential error, to determine an initial intersection result that indicates whether a reduced-precision triangular representation of the primitive is intersected by a reduced-precision representation of the ray, , wherein the reduced-precision triangular representation of the primitive includes reduced-precision values of coordinates for three vertices of the triangular primitive;
• and
• performing, in response to a hit indicated by the initial intersection result, a second ray-triangle intersection test using the first representation of the primitive to determine whether the ray intersects the primitive.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon design information that specifies a design of at least a portion of a hardware integrated circuit in a format recognized by a semiconductor fabrication system that is configured to use the design information to produce the circuit according to the design, wherein the design information specifies that the circuit includes:

• a graphics processor configured to determine whether a ray intersects a triangular primitive in a graphics scene, wherein the graphics processor includes:
• ray intersection circuitry configured to perform a reduced-precision intersection test, including to:
• determine, by error bounds circuitry, a potential error based on quantization of the primitive and the ray that generated reduced-precision representations relative to respective first representations;
• and
• perform a first ray-triangle intersection test, based on the potential error, to determine an initial intersection result that indicates whether a reduced-precision triangular representation of the primitive is intersected by a reduced-precision representation of the ray, wherein the reduced-precision triangular representation of the primitive includes reduced-precision values of coordinates for three vertices of the triangular primitive;
• and
• circuitry configured to, in response to a hit indicated by the initial intersection result, to perform a second ray-triangle intersection test using the first representation of the primitive and the first representation of the ray to determine whether the ray intersects the primitive.