Volumetric data organization method that allows for cache efficient rendering speedups and efficient graphics hardware design
US6144383A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 7, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T17/10
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A volumetric data organization method for volume rendering that is both cache efficient and efficient for hardware graphics design and utilization. A volume data set is divided up into a number of smaller sub-volumes or blocks through a process called blocking. The size of each sub-volume is a function of the computer system being used and/or the application program being run. Typical sub-volume sizes are approximately 5% of cache size. Each voxel tuple in a volume data set is converted to a linear address for linear storage in memory. Two techniques are used for blocking: overlapping and non-overlapping. The non-overlapping blocking technique divides the volume data set up into sub-volumes such that each sub-volume contains a unique set of voxels with no overlap of voxels between sub-volumes. The overlapping blocking technique expands each sub-volume to include voxels located on six planes that are located one voxel away from the sub-volume's existing bounding planes. After employing either technique, each sub-volume can be selected as containing desired or non-desired data. The volume rendering system ignores any sub-volumes that do not contain desired data, greatly speeding up r…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.