US 11,682,160 B2
Intersection testing in a ray tracing system using multiple ray bundle intersection tests
Gregory Clark, Hemel Hempstead (GB); Steven J. Clohset, San Francisco, CA (US); and Luke T. Peterson, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Imagination Technologies Limited, Kings Langley (GB)
Filed by Imagination Technologies Limited, Kings Langley (GB)
Filed on Mar. 1, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/684,147.
Application 17/684,147 is a continuation of application No. 16/914,908, filed on Jun. 29, 2020, granted, now 11,295,509.
Prior Publication US 2022/0189097 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06T 15/06 (2011.01); G06T 7/13 (2017.01); A63F 13/52 (2014.01)
CPC G06T 15/06 (2013.01) [G06T 7/13 (2017.01); A63F 13/52 (2014.09); A63F 2300/66 (2013.01); G06T 2210/12 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A ray tracing system comprising:
a tester module configured to receive a bundle of rays to be tested for intersection with a box, wherein the tester module comprises:
a first testing block configured to perform a first bundle intersection test to determine whether or not all of the rays of the bundle intersect the box, wherein if the first bundle intersection test determines that all of the rays of the bundle intersect the box, an intersection testing result for the bundle with respect to the box is that all of the rays of the bundle intersect the box; and
a second testing block configured to perform a second bundle intersection test to determine whether or not all of the rays of the bundle miss the box, wherein if the second bundle intersection test determines that all of the rays of the bundle miss the box, the intersection testing result for the bundle with respect to the box is that all of the rays of the bundle miss the box, wherein the second testing block is configured to perform said second bundle intersection test irrespective of the result of the first bundle intersection test performed by the first testing block, and
wherein the tester module is configured to, if the first bundle intersection test does not determine that all of the rays of the bundle intersect the box and if the second bundle intersection test does not determine that all of the rays of the bundle miss the box:
split the bundle of rays up into individual rays; and
perform intersection tests for the individual rays with respect to the box to determine which of the individual rays intersect the box.