Programmable ray tracing with hardware acceleration on a graphics processor

US10957095B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Intel Corporation · US

Inventors

• Karthik Vaidyanathan · San Francisco, US
• Won Jong Lee · Seoul, KR
• Gabor Liktor · San Francisco, US
• John G. Gierach · Portland, US
• Pawel Majewski · Warszawa, PL
• Prasoonkumar Surti · Folsom, US
• Carsten Benthin · Großrosseln, DE
• Sven Woop · Völklingen, DE
• Thomas Raoux · Mountain View, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 6, 2018
• Grant date: Mar 23, 2021
• Expiry date: Aug 6, 2038

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G09G5/363
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Apparatus and method for programmable ray tracing with hardware acceleration on a graphics processor. For example, one embodiment of a graphics processor comprises shader execution circuitry to execute a plurality of programmable ray tracing shaders. The shader execution circuitry includes a plurality of single instruction multiple data (SIMD) execution units. Sorting circuitry regroups data associated with one or more of the programmable ray tracing shaders to increase occupancy for SIMD operations performed by the SIMD execution units; and fixed-function intersection circuitry coupled to the shader execution circuitry detects intersections between rays and bounding volume hierarchies (BVHs) and/or objects contained therein and to provide results indicating the intersections to the sorting circuitry.