Patent ID: 11887244
Assignee: IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A computer-implemented method of performing intersection testing between a ray and elements identified by nodes of a hierarchical acceleration structure of a ray tracing system, wherein a node identifies one or more elements for intersection testing, wherein elements identified by non-leaf nodes of the hierarchical acceleration structure are represented by a further node of the hierarchical acceleration structure, the computer-implemented method comprising:
defining a sequential value for each leaf node of the hierarchical acceleration structure, wherein the sequential values of the leaf nodes that branch from any given non-leaf node are sequential with respect to one another;
defining a value for each non-leaf node of the hierarchical acceleration structure, wherein, for each non-leaf node, the value facilitates identification of the sequential values of any leaf nodes that branch from the said non-leaf node;
defining progress information for the ray, the progress information comprising first progress information identifying the earliest sequential value amongst the sequential values of leaf nodes for which it is not known whether or not the ray intersects any of their elements;
performing an intersection testing process to identify any intersections between the ray and elements identified by the nodes of the hierarchical acceleration structure; and
during the intersection testing process, updating the progress information based on any identified intersections between the ray and the elements identified by the nodes of the hierarchical acceleration structure;
wherein the progress information further comprises second progress information which identifies the sequentially earliest sequential value amongst:
sequential values of any leaf nodes associated with any intersected element for which no ray request will be or has been defined in that iteration of the intersection testing process; and
sequential values of any leaf node which branches from any non-leaf node, associated with any intersected element, for which no ray request will be or has been defined in that iteration of the intersection testing process.