Applications of interval arithmetic for reduction of number of computations in ray tracing problems
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsAlexander Reshetov, Alexei Soupikov, Alexander Kapustin, James Hurley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments provide for ray tracing traversal that relies on selected geometrical properties of the application to reduce the number of operations required during each traversal step. The traversal algorithm does not depend on the number of rays in the group. As a result, multi-level traversal schemes may be implemented, starting with a large number of rays in a group and then reducing it as needed to maintain group coherency. Multi-level traversal schemes may be created by splitting large groups of rays while traversing acceleration structures.
Claims16
A method for ray tracing, comprising:
- generating a group of rays;
- grouping parallel geometrical queries associated with the group of rays;
- extracting selected common geometrical characteristics pertinent for the whole group;
- and
- executing a query using only the selected characteristics and not the whole group against a spatially ordered geometrical database.
A machine-accessible medium including instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to:
- generate a group of rays;
- group parallel geometrical queries associated with the group of rays;
- extract selected common geometrical characteristics pertinent for the whole group;
- and
- execute a query using only the selected characteristics and not the whole group against a spatially ordered geometrical database.
A method for ray tracing, comprising:
- generating a group of rays having a common point of origin;
- computing minimum and maximum distances values among all projections of direction vectors on any given axis;
- defining inverse direction intervals representative of the group of rays;
- computing minimum and maximum distances to a split plane using inverse direction intervals;
- determining whether sub-cells in a split plane are traversed, comprising:
- modifying the interval and traversing only one sub cell if the minimum distance to the cell is more than the maximum distance to the plane or the maximum distance to the cell is less then the minimum distance to the plane.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a database;
- and
- a controller for generating a group of rays, grouping parallel geometrical queries associated with the group of rays, extracting selected common geometrical characteristics pertinent for the whole group, and executing a query using only the selected characteristics and not the whole group against the spatially ordered geometrical database.
An system, comprising:
- a memory including a database;
- and
- a controller for generating a group of rays, grouping parallel geometrical queries associated with the group of rays, extracting selected common geometrical characteristics pertinent for the whole group, and executing a query using only the selected characteristics and not the whole group against the database.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.