Patent ID: 8259105
Filing Date: 2012-09-04
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. At a computer system, the computer system including a processor and system memory, the computer system also including a hierarchical data tree structure representing a plurality of geometric primitives within a three-dimensional scene, data in the hierarchal data tree structure partitioned in accordance with object partitioning, the hierarchically data tree structure including a root node, one or more levels of intermediate nodes, and, a plurality of leaf nodes, each intermediate node corresponding to a bounding volume within the three-dimensional scene, the plurality of leaf nodes representing the plurality of geometric primitives, bounding volumes of child intermediate nodes and geometric primitives of leaf nodes being bound within bounding volumes of their corresponding parent nodes, a method for ray tracing the three-dimensional scene by finding any intersections between light rays and the plurality geometric primitives, the method comprising: an act of accessing the hierarchical data tree structure; an act of accessing data representing a packet of a plurality of coherent light rays, a first active ray and one or more other active rays from the plurality of coherent light rays being a group of active rays; for each descended to node in the one or more levels of intermediate nodes and leaf nodes and working down from the root node towards the leaf nodes within the hierarchical data tree structure, an act of testing the descended to node against the packet of the plurality of coherent light rays to identify intersections between light rays in the group of active rays and the plurality of geometric objects, including: