Patent ID: 7472046

Claim:
A method of simulating advection of a plurality of elements through space, the method comprising: generating a plurality of 2D grids with a computer, each 2D grid being independent and having a plurality of grid points; associating movement information with each 2D grid point; changing the movement information associated with the 2D grid points over a time period that includes discrete intervals; defining a region of 3D space using the 2D grids by associating a component with each 2D grid point to form a respective 3D vector, each component including one of a rotational portion and a linear portion, and by adding a pseudo-random 3D vector to each respective 3D vector to form one of a symmetric 3D vector and a non-symmetric 3D vector; advecting the plurality of elements through the region of 3D space using the movement information associated with the 2D grids; and displaying the simulated advection of the plurality of elements.