US 12,266,046 B2
Apparatus and method for using alpha values to improve ray tracing efficiency
Holger Gruen, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Assigned to Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 26, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/511,050.
Application 17/511,050 is a continuation of application No. 16/728,912, filed on Dec. 27, 2019, granted, now 11,164,359.
Prior Publication US 2022/0114781 A1, Apr. 14, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06T 15/06 (2011.01); G06T 1/20 (2006.01); G06T 3/40 (2006.01); G06T 9/00 (2006.01); G06T 15/00 (2011.01); G06T 17/10 (2006.01)
CPC G06T 15/06 (2013.01) [G06T 1/20 (2013.01); G06T 3/40 (2013.01); G06T 9/00 (2013.01); G06T 15/005 (2013.01); G06T 17/10 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
execution circuitry to generate a plurality of rays, wherein the plurality of rays is to traverse through a hierarchical data structure and intersect with a plurality of primitives within the hierarchical data structure; and
a storage to store the plurality of primitives, wherein a primitive of the plurality of primitives is subdivided into a plurality of sub-primitives, a first subset of the plurality of sub-primitives being encoded as being fully transparent and a second subset of the plurality of sub-primitives being encoded as being fully opaque by a sub-primitive encoder, and wherein a ray within the plurality of rays to intersect a primitive within the plurality of primitives comprises:
determining whether the ray intersects the primitive,
upon determining that the ray intersects the primitive, identifying a sub-primitive to which the ray intersects within the primitive, continuing traversal of the hierarchical data structure upon a determination that the sub-primitive belongs to the first subset of the plurality of sub-primitives encoded as being fully transparent, and
recording a valid hit with the sub-primitive upon a determination that the sub-primitive belongs to the second subset of the plurality of sub-primitives encoded as being fully opaque.