System and a method for determining approximate set of visible objects in beam tracing

A system for beam tracing, wherein a set of beams is a representation of a physical wave phenomenon, the system comprising:

• a hierarchical model memory (507) for storing a scene representation;
• a dedicated signal processor (505) for performing intersection tests of ray-triangle and beam-triangle type;
• a controller (502), coupled via a bus to the processor (505), configured to execute the steps of:
• receiving (301), via an I/O controller (506), information regarding a beam and potentially intersecting objects;
• executing (302) beam-triangle intersection tests;
• discarding (303) elements, for which an intersection test is negative;
• dividing (304) the beam into smaller partial beams;
• providing (305) data for parallel processing;
• discarding (306) of triangles with respect to partial beams;
• dividing (307) the partial beams into smaller partial beams;
• approximating (308) the smaller partial beams with rays;
• for each ray finding (309) the closest triangle if such a triangle exists;
• creating (310) delimited smaller partial beams;
• selectively applying merging (311) of smaller partial beams previously delimited (310).