Patent · US Expired

System and method for representing and manipulating three-dimensional objects on massively parallel architectures

US5488692A · kind A · utility

17Cited by
4References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 11, 1994
Grant dateJan 30, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 11, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2219/2021
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A parallel computing system is described that comprises a plurality of uniquely labeled, parallel processors, each processor capable of modelling a three-dimensional object that includes a plurality of vertices, faces and edges. The system comprises a front-end processor for issuing a modelling command to the parallel processors, relating to a three-dimensional object. Each parallel processor, in response to the command and through the use of its own unique label, creates a directed-edge (d-edge) data structure that uniquely relates an edge of the three-dimensional object to one face of the object. Each d-edge data structure at least includes vertex descriptions of the edge and a description of the one face. As a result, each processor, in response to the modelling command, operates upon a small component of the model and generates results, in parallel with all other processors, without the need for processor-to-processor intercommunication.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.