17456503. Quantized Ray Intersection Testing with Definitive Hit Detection simplified abstract (Apple Inc.)
Quantized Ray Intersection Testing with Definitive Hit Detection
Organization Name
Inventor(s)
Christopher A. Burns of Austin TX (US)
Quantized Ray Intersection Testing with Definitive Hit Detection - A simplified explanation of the abstract
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 17456503 titled 'Quantized Ray Intersection Testing with Definitive Hit Detection
Simplified Explanation
The patent application describes techniques for intersection tests in ray tracing using graphics processors. These techniques involve using reduced-precision representations of rays and primitives to perform intersection tests, which can help reduce power consumption and improve performance.
- Test circuitry is configured to perform intersection tests on reduced-precision representations of rays and primitives.
- The reduced-precision tests may generate definitive hits based on initial representations, allowing for faster intersection recording without additional tests.
- These techniques can help reduce power consumption and improve performance in graphics processing.
Potential Applications
- Computer graphics rendering
- Virtual reality and augmented reality applications
- Video game development
- Scientific visualization
Problems Solved
- High power consumption in intersection tests for ray tracing
- Performance limitations in graphics processing
- Inefficiencies in intersection testing for rays and primitives
Benefits
- Reduced power consumption
- Improved performance in graphics processing
- Faster intersection recording for certain types of rays
Original Abstract Submitted
Techniques are disclosed relating to intersection tests for ray tracing in graphics processors. In some embodiments, test circuitry is configured to perform intersection tests that operate on reduced-precision representations of rays that were generated by quantizing initial representations of the rays and reduced-precision representations of primitives that were generated by quantizing initial representations of the primitives. Some reduced-precision tests (e.g., for any-hit rays) may generate a definitive hit according to the initial representations. In this situation, graphics processing circuitry may record an intersection with the reduced-precision representation of the primitive for the ray based on the first result, without performing an intersection test for the first ray using the initial representation of the ray and the primitive. Disclosed techniques may advantageously reduce power consumption, improve performance, or both.
