Apparatus and method for a hierarchical beam tracer
US10762686B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 28, 2018 |
| Grant date | Sep 1, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 30, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2210/21
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Apparatus and method for a hierarchical beam tracer. For example, one embodiment of an apparatus comprises: a beam generator to generate beam data associated with a beam projected into a graphics scene; a bounding volume hierarchy (BVH) generator to generate BVH data comprising a plurality of hierarchically arranged BVH nodes; a hierarchical beam-based traversal unit to determine whether the beam intersects a current BVH node and, if so, to responsively subdivide the beam into N child beams to test against the current BVH node and/or to traverse further down the BVH hierarchy to select a new BVH node, wherein the hierarchical beam-based traversal unit is to iteratively subdivide successive intersecting child beams and/or to continue to traverse down the BVH hierarchy until a leaf node is reached with which at least one final child beam is determined to intersect; the hierarchical beam-based traversal unit to generate a plurality of rays within the final child beam; and intersection hardware logic to perform intersection testing for any rays intersecting the leaf node, the intersection testing to determine intersections between the rays intersecting the leaf node and primitives boun…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.