Watertight Catmull-Clark Surface Evaluation via Boundary Ownership

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-computing and storing control point values in a shared cache memory before patch evaluation. This allows adjacent patches to retrieve identical control point values without re-computation, ensuring boundary continuity while maintaining computational efficiency. The control points are prepared in advance and made available to multiple patches that share common boundaries.

The patent uses copying by creating and storing copies of control point values in a shared cache structure. Instead of each patch independently computing control points, the system creates a master copy of control point values that can be replicated and shared across multiple adjacent patches, ensuring bit-wise identical values at boundaries while reducing redundant computation.

The patent applies local quality by implementing a cache structure that stores control point values only where needed - specifically in the regions where patches share common boundaries. Instead of universally computing and storing all control points for all patches, the system locally caches control points only for adjacent patch pairs that require continuity, reducing overall computational effort and storage requirements while maintaining watertight boundaries where necessary.

The patent uses universality by creating a shared cache structure that serves multiple adjacent patches simultaneously. A single cached control point value can be reused by multiple patches that share common boundaries, making the cache structure multi-functional. This eliminates redundant computation and storage across different patch evaluations while ensuring consistent boundary representation.