Apple patents hardware to speed up light simulation in graphics
Apple has been granted a patent for specialized computer chips that help trace the path of light rays through complex 3D scenes. The design uses specific memory buffers to track where rays hit objects, allowing the hardware to calculate reflections and shadows more efficiently.
In the filing’s own words
Techniques are disclosed relating to ray tracing, particularly for path tracking through a bounding volume hierarchy, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, ray intersection accelerator circuitry traverses a bounding volume hierarchy that includes transform nodes at multiple levels. Ray transform accelerator circuitry may transform ray information based on reaching a given transform node during the traversal. Path tracking hardware may determine a list of pointers to transform nodes in a traversal path taken to reach a first primitive. This may include utilizing at least two buffer circuits to store pointers for a candidate list and a committed list, storing candidate trail information that indicates, for a given position in the candidate list, which buffer stores a corresponding pointer, and storing committed trail information that indicates, for a given position in the committed list, which buffer stores a corresponding pointer.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An apparatus, comprising: ray intersection accelerator circuitry configured to traverse a bounding volume hierarchy that includes transform nodes at multiple levels; ray transform accelerator circuitry configured to transform ray information based on reaching a given transform node during the traversal; path tracking circuitry configured to determine a list of pointers to transform nodes in a traversal path taken to reach a first primitive represented in the bounding volume hierarchy, including to: utilize at least two buffer circuits to store pointers for a candidate list and a committed list; store candidate trail information that indicates, for a given position in the candidate list, which buffer of the buffer circuits stores a corresponding pointer; and store committed trail information that indicates, for a given position in the committed list, which buffer of the buffer circuits stores a corresponding pointer.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Path tracking for hardware-accelerated ray transforms
- Patent number
- US12743840B2
- Application number
- 18670948
- Filed
- May 22, 2024
- Granted
- Sep 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06T 15/06 Physics & computingG06T 17/005 Physics & computingMore from Apple in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.