The Voxar project (parallel ray-tracing)

Author

Pitot, Paul

Author_Institution

Toulouse Res. Inst. of Comput. Sci., France

Volume

13

Issue

1

fYear

1993

Firstpage

27

Lastpage

33

Abstract

An implementation of the ray-tracing algorithm that is based on the Voxar parallel processing model, which simulates 3D physical phenomena, is discussed. The implementation of a general parallel ray-tracing program, and the implementation of Voxar are reviewed. Results of a performance evaluation of Voxar show that the machine´s best points are its efficiency on complex ray-tree images and its parallel animation functionality. Its weak points are the insufficiency of the deadlock prevention strategy, the high cost of the communication system, the sequential generation of the primary rays, and the rigidity of the regular subdivision.<>

Keywords

computer animation; parallel algorithms; parallel programming; ray tracing; trees (mathematics); 3D physical phenomena; Voxar parallel processing model; complex ray-tree images; deadlock prevention strategy; general parallel ray-tracing program; parallel animation functionality; performance evaluation; ray-tracing algorithm; regular subdivision; sequential generation; Computer science; Concurrent computing; Costs; Data flow computing; Databases; Distributed computing; Layout; Optical devices; Partitioning algorithms; Ray tracing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0272-1716

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/38.180114

Filename

180114