Optimizing computer hardware resource utilization when processing variable precision data

A system for optimizing hardware resource utilization when processing variable-precision data, the system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• a machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform functions including functions to:
• determine a level of precision of an application data object to be processed wherein the application data object is one of a plurality of application data objects represented by different nodes of a scene graph, the different nodes including transform nodes corresponding to the plurality of application data objects, each transform node specifying parameters for one or more data transforms to be applied to a corresponding application data object;
• calculate at least one bounding value for the application data object based on the determined level of precision, the at least one bounding value corresponding to a maximum extent of a bounding volume for the application data object;
• determine whether the calculated bounding value exceeds a precision threshold;
• send, to a graphics processing unit, the application data object to be processed by the graphics processing unit and rendered to a display device coupled to the graphics processing unit, when the calculated bounding value is determined not to exceed the precision threshold;
• when the calculated bounding value is determined to exceed the precision threshold:
• process the application data object according to a predetermined set of operations performed by the processor;
• generate an output dataset based on the processed application data object;
• and
• send, to the graphics processing unit, the generated output dataset to be rendered to the display device;
• detect a change in at least one of the parameters specified by the transform node corresponding to the application data object to be processed;
• when the bounding value is determined to exceed the precision threshold:
• modify the scene graph based on the detected change;
• reprocess the application data object based on the modified scene graph;
• and
• regenerate the output dataset based on the reprocessed application data object;
• and
• when the bounding value is determined to be within the precision threshold, send an indication of the detected change to the graphics processing unit, the graphics processing unit being configured to apply the change automatically to the application data object without reprocessing and without having to modify the scene graph.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a plurality of functions, including functions to:

• determine a level of precision of an application data object to be processed, wherein the application data object is one of a plurality of application data objects represented by different nodes of a scene graph, the different nodes including transform nodes corresponding to the plurality of application data objects, each transform node specifying parameters for one or more data transforms to be applied to a corresponding application data object;
• calculate at least one bounding value for the application data object based on the determined level of precision, the at least one bounding value corresponding to a maximum extent of a bounding volume for the application data object;
• determine whether the calculated bounding value exceeds a precision threshold;
• send, to a graphics processing unit, the application data object to be processed by the graphics processing unit and rendered to a display device coupled to the graphics processing unit, when the calculated bounding value is determined not to exceed the precision threshold;
• when the calculated bounding value is determined to exceed the precision threshold:
• process the application data object according to a predetermined set of operations performed by the processor;
• generate an output dataset based on the processed application data object;
• and
• send, to the graphics processing unit, the generated output dataset to be rendered to the display device;
• detect a change in at least one of the parameters specified by the transform node corresponding to the application data object to be processed;
• when the bounding value is determined to exceed the precision threshold:
• modify the scene graph based on the detected change;
• reprocess the application data object based on the modified scene graph;
• and
• regenerate the output dataset based on the reprocessed application data object;
• and
• when the bounding value is determined to be within the precision threshold, send an indication of the detected change to the graphics processing unit, the graphics processing unit being configured to apply the change automatically to the application data object without reprocessing and without having to modify the scene graph.