Hardware Voxel Traversal for Hierarchical Scene Data Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in efficiently handling voxel-based representations of three-dimensional scenes, particularly in accessing and processing data relevant to voxels in a spatially sorted manner.
Innovation Solution
A data processing system equipped with a traversal unit that traverses a hierarchical data structure, such as a bounding volume hierarchy (BVH), KD-tree, or Oct-tree, to efficiently access voxel data, utilizing a hardware accelerator triggered by a single instruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a hierarchical data structure is used to represent voxel scenes, then data organization and spatial sorting are improved, but data access and processing efficiency deteriorate due to complex traversal requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based traversal algorithms with a dedicated hardware traversal unit that automatically navigates the hierarchical data structure. This hardware accelerator contains specialized circuitry for traversing tree structures, performing spatial queries, and accessing voxel data without requiring general-purpose processor intervention, thereby resolving the contradiction between organized data structure and processing efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The traversal unit acts as an intermediary component between the hierarchical data structure and the voxel processing pipeline. It receives traversal requests, automatically navigates the data structure using dedicated hardware logic, and retrieves relevant voxel data, thus eliminating the inefficiency of software-based traversal while maintaining the benefits of hierarchical organization
2Speed
If real-time processing of voxel scenes is implemented, then application responsiveness is improved, but computational complexity and resource requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data processing system into distinct functional units: a hierarchical data structure for organization, a dedicated traversal unit for navigation, and voxel processing units for computation. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, enabling real-time processing speeds while managing overall system complexity through modular architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The hierarchical data structure performs preliminary organization of voxel data in advance, sorting spatial relationships and creating an optimized traversal path before processing begins. This pre-computation reduces the computational burden during real-time processing, achieving high speed performance without proportionally increasing system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A data processing system and method for performing processing relating to a scene represented by a set of one or more voxels. A data processor of the data processing system comprises an execution unit operable to execute instructions to perform data processing operations. A traversal unit of the data processing system is configured to traverse a hierarchical data structure with one or more leaf nodes comprising data relating to voxels. A traversal of the hierarchical data structure by the traversal unit is performed in response to the execution unit executing an instruction indicating that a traversal is to be performed.