| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20090262132 | ARCHITECTURES FOR PARALLELIZED INTERSECTION TESTING AND SHADING FOR RAY-TRACING RENDERING - Ray tracing scenes is accomplished using a plurality of intersection testing resources coupled with a plurality of shading resources, communicative in the aggregate through links/queues. A queue from testing to shading comprises respective ray/primitive intersection indications, comprising a ray identifier. A queue from shading to testing comprises identifiers of new rays to be tested, wherein data defining the rays is separately stored in memories distributed among the intersection testing resources. Ray definition data can be retained in distributed memories until rays complete intersection testing, and be selected for testing multiple times based on ray identifier. A structure of acceleration shapes can be used. Packets of ray identifiers and shape data can be passed among the intersection testing resources, and each resource can test rays identified in the packet, and for which definition data is present in its memory. Test results for acceleration shapes are used to collect rays against acceleration shapes, and closest detection ray/primitive intersections are indicated by sending ray identifiers to shading resources. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090289939 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONCURRENT RAY TRACING - For ray tracing scenes composed of primitives, systems and methods can traverse rays through an acceleration structure. The traversal can be implemented by concurrently testing a plurality of nodes of the acceleration structure for intersection with a sequence of one or more rays. Such testing can occur in a plurality of test cells. Leaf nodes of the acceleration structure can bound primitives, and a sequence primitives can be tested concurrently for intersection in the test cells against a plurality of rays that have intersected a given leaf node. Intersection testing of a particular leaf node can be deferred until a sufficient quantity of rays have been collected for that node. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090322752 | RAY TRACING SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES AND METHODS - Aspects comprise systems implementing ray tracing functionality according to example architectures. In one example, rays are collected into collections against elements of an acceleration structure, which in some cases are associated with objects composing a scene being ray traced. Indications of detected ray intersections also can be collected in an output buffer, and in some examples, the output buffer can comprise a plurality of portions, each associated with a scene object, or a common portion of code to be executed during shading. Buffer contents can be accessed in a block read. An intersection shading resource can load data to be used in shading the intersections for the identified rays, and locally storing that data for use in shading those intersections. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100073369 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A RAY TRACING SHADER API - Aspects include API interfaces for interfacing shaders with other components and/or code modules that provide ray tracing functionality. For example, API calls may allow direct contribution of light energy to a buffer for an identified pixel, and allow emission of new rays for intersection testing alone or in bundles. The API also can provide a mechanism for associating arbitrary data with ray definition data defining a ray to be tested through a shader using the emit ray call. The arbitrary data is provided to a shader associated with an object that is identified subsequently as having been intersected by the ray. The data can include code, or a pointer to code, that can be used by or run after the shader. The data also can be propagated through a series of shaders, and associated with rays instantiated in each shader. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100073370 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A RAY TRACING SHADER API - Aspects include API interfaces for interfacing shaders with other components and/or code modules that provide ray tracing functionality. For example, API calls may allow direct contribution of light energy to a buffer for an identified pixel, and allow emission of new rays for intersection testing alone or in bundles. The API also can provide a mechanism for associating arbitrary data with ray definition data defining a ray to be tested through a shader using the emit ray call. The arbitrary data is provided to a shader associated with an object that is identified subsequently as having been intersected by the ray. The data can include code, or a pointer to code, that can be used by or run after the shader. The data also can be propagated through a series of shaders, and associated with rays instantiated in each shader. Recursive shaders can be recompiled as non-recursive shaders interfacing with API semantics according to the description. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100097372 | SYNTHETIC ACCELERATION SHAPES FOR USE IN RAY TRACING - A synthetic acceleration shape bound primitives composing a 3-D scene, and is defined using a group of fundamental shapes arranged to bound the primitives, and for which intersection results for group members yield an ultimate intersection testing result for the synthetic shape, using a logical operator. For example, two or more spheres are used to bound an object so that each of the spheres is larger than a minimum necessary to bound the object, and a volume defined by an intersection between the shapes defines a smaller volume in which the object is bounded. A ray is found to potentially intersect the object only if it intersects both spheres. In another example, an element may be defined by a volumetric union of component elements. Indicators can determine how groups of shapes should be interpreted. Synthetic shapes can be treated as a single element in a graph or hierarchical arrangement of acceleration elements. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100231589 | RAY TRACING USING RAY-SPECIFIC CLIPPING - Systems, methods, and computer readable media embodying such methods provide for allowing specification of per-ray clipping information that defines a sub-portion of a 3-D scene in which the ray should be traced. The clipping information can be specified as a clip distance from a ray origin, as an end value of a parametric ray definition, or alternatively the clipping information can be built into a definition of the ray to be traced. The clipping information can be used to check whether portions of an acceleration structure need to be traversed, as well as whether primitives should be tested for intersection. Other aspects include specifying a default object that can be returned as intersected when no primitive was intersected within the sub-portion defined for testing. Further aspects include allowing provision of flags interpretable by an intersection testing resource that control what the intersection testing resource does, and/or what information it reports after conclusion of testing of a ray. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100328310 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF DEFINING RAYS FOR RAY TRACING RENDERING - Some aspects pertain to ray data storage for ray tracing rendering. Attribute data for a first ray can be stored. To define a second ray, data defining such can comprise a reference to the first ray (in one example) and attribute source information indicative of shared attributes between the first and second rays. The attribute source information can be shared among many rays, and can be selected based on ray type. Definition data for unshared attributes can be explicit with the second ray. A plurality of rays can reference one ray for shared attribute data. Referencing rays can be counted and decremented as referencing rays complete. Shared attributes can be indicated with masks. Interface modules can service ray data read and write requests made by shaders, and shaders can explicitly reference attributes of rays, without using such interfacing modules. Data structures can be used as attribute sources without being associated with particular rays, and can be defined and selected as attribute data sources based on ray type. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332523 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PHOTON MAP QUERYING - In one aspect, photon queries are answered using systems and methods of traversal of collections of photon queries through an acceleration structure, to identify photons meeting a specification of a given query. Such systems and methods can be extended to satisfying similarity queries in an n-dimensional parameter space. Queries can be associated with code (or pointers to code) that are run to achieve closure of that query. Queries can cause further queries to be emitted. Arbitrary data can be passed from one query to another; for example, parameters defined internally to the code modules themselves (e.g., the parameters do not need to have a definition or meaning to the systems or within the methods). | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110032257 | DYNAMIC RAY POPULATION CONTROL - Aspects can be for ray tracing of 3-D scenes, and include dynamically controlling a population of rays being stored in a memory, to keep the population within a target, a memory footprint or other resource usage specification. An example includes controlling the population by examining indicia associated with rays returning from intersection testing, to be shaded, the indicia correlated with behavior of shaders to be run for those rays, such that population control selects, or reorders rays for shading, to prioritize shading of rays whose shaders are expected to produce fewer rays. The indicia can include a respective weight for each ray. In an example, analyzer modules examine hints associated with shaders bound to intersected primitives. Population control aspects can influence ray diversity in memory, including encouraging a varying diversity pattern as rendering of a given scene or frame progresses, based on system resource indicia, rendering metrics and so on. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110050698 | ARCHITECTURES FOR PARALLELIZED INTERSECTION TESTING AND SHADING FOR RAY-TRACING RENDERING - Ray tracing scenes is accomplished using a plurality of intersection testing resources coupled with a plurality of shading resources, communicative in the aggregate through links/queues. A queue from testing to shading comprises respective ray/primitive intersection indications, comprising a ray identifier. A queue from shading to testing comprises identifiers of new rays to be tested, wherein data defining the rays is separately stored in memories distributed among the intersection testing resources. Ray definition data can be retained in distributed memories until rays complete intersection testing, and be selected for testing multiple times based on ray identifier. A structure of acceleration shapes can be used. Packets of ray identifiers and shape data can be passed among the intersection testing resources, and each resource can test rays identified in the packet, and for which definition data is present in its memory. Test results for acceleration shapes are used to collect rays against acceleration shapes, and closest detection ray/primitive intersections are indicated by sending ray identifiers to shading resources. | 03-03-2011 |
