Patent ID: 7366649

Claim:
A computer-readable medium including a data structure for storing information representing connectivity of a grid identified in n dimensions during a partition operation; the data structure comprising; (a) a plurality of grid points (x i 0 , x i 1 , . . . , x i n−1 ); each respective grid point of said plurality of grid points representing an edge point of a partition in said grid; (b) for each said respective grid point, a plurality of up to n pointer fields; each respective pointer field of said plurality of up to n pointer fields identifying an occupied next-adjacent grid point (x j 0 , x j 1 , . . . , x j n−1 ) of said plurality of grid points in each of up to n orthogonal directions; said occupied next-adjacent grid point satisfying the conditions: if p≠k then x i p =x j p ; and (1) if p=k then x i k<x j p ; (2) where p =0, 1, . . . , n−1; and where 0≦k≦n−1.