Positional only shading pipeline (POSH) geometry data processing with coarse Z buffer

• US 10,643,374 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2017
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Surti, Prasoonkumar, Vaidyanathan, Karthik, Kuwahara, Atsuo, Labbe, Hugues, Kp, Sameer, Kennedy, Jonathan, Appu, Abhishek R., Boles, Jeffery S., Vembu, Balaji, Apodaca, Michael, Grajewski, Slawomir, Liktor, Gabor, Cimini, David M., Lauritzen, Andrew T., Schluessler, Travis T., Ramadoss, Murali, Venkatesh, Abhishek, Ray, Joydeep, Xiao, Kai, Shah, Ankur N., Koker, Altug
• Primary Examiner(s): Zalalee, Sultana M
• Application Number:
  US15/494,778
• Publication Number:
  US 20180308277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,107 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/40 Filling a planar surface by adding surface attributes, e.g. colour or texture
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/005 General purpose rendering architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/30 Clipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/40 Hidden part removal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/405 using Z-buffer
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/20 Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, tesselation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/52 Parallel processing

Abstract

The systems, apparatuses and methods may provide a way to adaptively process and aggressively cull geometry data. Systems, apparatuses and methods may provide for processing, by a positional only shading pipeline (POSH), geometry data including surface triangles for a digital representation of a scene. More particularly, systems, apparatuses and methods may provide a way to identify surface triangles in one or more exclusion zones and non-exclusion zones, and cull surface triangles surface triangles in one or more exclusion zones.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a power source to supply power to the system;

a graphics pipeline apparatus comprising;

a positional only shading pipeline to;

compute a position of geometry data, the geometry data including surface triangles for a digital representation of a scene;

perform a screen space transformation; and

cull at least one of the surface triangles; and

a render pipe to render the surface triangles remaining following the culling,

wherein exclusion zones and non-exclusion zones are sized based on culling parameters, and wherein the culling parameters include at least lens parameters for depth perception of near planes and far planes, and

wherein the geometry data includes primitives, wherein the positional only shading pipeline;

processes and sorts the primitives;

records distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determines a number and size of resolution segments to use to process the primitives based on the recorded distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determines at least two graphics processing units (GPUs) are in communication with the positional only shading pipeline;

generates geometry streams for the at least two GPUs, and

wherein the at least two GPUs renders the primitives based on the number and size of the resolution segments and the distribution and density attributes,

wherein the graphics pipeline apparatus is to expose the surface triangles to a vertex shader, wherein the render pipe is to generate stream out data,

wherein the stream out data includes vertices for tessellations of patches,

wherein the graphics pipeline apparatus is to;

adjust a granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones based on a position of one or more of the surface triangles, the lens parameters or attributes of the stream out data, wherein the attributes of the stream out data include one or more of granularity of the stream out data, motion or direction of one or more objects or a gaze of a user; and

based on the adjustment of the granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones, expose the stream out data to the vertex shader in the positional only shading pipeline,

wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to cull the stream out data; and

wherein the positional only shading pipeline identifies the at least one of the surface triangles culled as exclusion triangles and the surface triangles remaining following the culling as non-exclusion triangles, wherein the surface triangles identified as exclusion triangles include at least a portion of the surface triangles in one or more exclusion zones, and wherein the surface triangles identified as non-exclusion triangles include the surface triangles in one or more non-exclusion zones.

2. The system of claim of claim 1, wherein the positional only shading pipeline creates a coarse Z buffer associated with the positional only shading pipeline, wherein the coarse Z buffer is created while processing the geometry data, and wherein the positional only shading pipeline stores one or more of the surface triangles in a coarse Z order as coarse Z buffer triangles, wherein the coarse Z order is a depth sorted order from a Zmax value to a Zmin value, wherein the Zmin value and the Zmax value identify near planes and far planes in the scene.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the positional only shading pipeline performs coarse rasterization based on a coarse Z value, wherein the coarse Z value indicates a level of granularity of detail in the scene, wherein the surface triangles stored as the Z buffer triangles include the non-exclusion triangles identified as occluded by at least one of another of the non-exclusion triangles identified as opaque, wherein the positional only shading pipeline sizes the coarse Z buffer based on the coarse Z value, wherein the size of the coarse Z buffer is proportional to the coarse Z value, wherein the positional only shading pipeline feeds forward the coarse Z buffer to the render pipe, wherein the render pipe renders the Z buffer triangles.

4. An apparatus comprising:

a positional only shading pipeline to;

compute a position of geometry data, the geometry data including surface triangles for a digital representation of a scene;

perform a screen space transformation; and

cull at least one of the surface triangles; and

a render pipe to render the surface triangles remaining following the culling,

wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to identify the at least one of the surface triangles culled as exclusion triangles and the surface triangles remaining following the culling as non-exclusion triangles, wherein the surface triangles identified as exclusion triangles include at least a portion of the surface triangles in one or more exclusion zones, and wherein the surface triangles identified as non-exclusion triangles include the surface triangles in one or more non-exclusion zones, wherein the exclusion zones and non-exclusion zones are to be sized based on culling parameters, and wherein the culling parameters include at least lens parameters for depth perception of near planes and far planes, and

wherein the geometry data includes primitives, wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to;

process and sort the primitives;

record distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determine a number and size of resolution segments to use to process the primitives based on the recorded distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determine at least two graphics processing units (GPUs) are in communication with the positional only shading pipeline;

generate geometry streams for the at least two GPUs, and

wherein the at least two GPUs are to render the primitives based on the number and size of the resolution segments and the distribution and density attributes,

wherein the apparatus further comprises a vertex shader,

wherein the apparatus is to expose the surface triangles to the vertex shader,

wherein the render pipe is to generate stream out data,

wherein the stream out data is to include vertices for tessellations of patches,

wherein the apparatus is to;

adjust a granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones based on a position of one or more of the surface triangles, the lens parameters or attributes of the stream out data, wherein the attributes of the stream out data include one or more of granularity of the stream out data, motion or direction of one or more objects or a gaze of a user; and

based on the adjustment of the granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones, expose the stream out data to the vertex shader in the positional only shading pipeline, and

wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to cull the stream out data.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to create a coarse Z buffer associated with the positional only shading pipeline, wherein the coarse Z buffer is created while processing the geometry data, and wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to store one or more of the surface triangles in a coarse Z order as coarse Z buffer triangles, wherein the coarse Z order is a depth sorted order from a Zmax value to a Zmin value, wherein the Zmin value and the Zmax value identify near planes and far planes in the scene.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to perform coarse rasterization based on a coarse Z value, wherein the coarse Z value indicates a level of granularity of detail in the scene, wherein the surface triangles to be stored as the Z buffer triangles include the non-exclusion triangles identified as occluded by at least one of another of the non-exclusion triangles identified as opaque, wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to size the coarse Z buffer based on the coarse Z value, wherein the size of the coarse Z buffer is proportional to the coarse Z value, wherein the positional only shading pipeline is to feed forward the coarse Z buffer to the render pipe, wherein the render pipe is to render the Z buffer triangles.

7. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions which, when executed, cause a computing device to:

compute, by a positional only shading pipeline, a position of geometry data, the geometry data including surface triangles for a digital representation of a scene;

perform, by a positional only shading pipeline, a screen space transformation;

cull, by a positional only shading pipeline, at least one of the surface triangles;

render, by a render pipe, the surface triangles remaining following the culling;

identify, by a positional only shading pipeline, the at least one of the surface triangles culled as exclusion triangles and the surface triangles remaining following the culling as non-exclusion triangles, wherein the surface triangles identified as exclusion triangles include at least a portion of the surface triangles in one or more exclusion zones, and wherein the surface triangles identified as non-exclusion triangles include the surface triangles in one or more non-exclusion zones, wherein the exclusion zones and non-exclusion zones are to be sized based on culling parameters, and wherein the culling parameters include at least lens parameters for depth perception of near planes and far planes;

process and sort the primitives;

record distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determine a number and size of resolution segments to use to process the primitives based on the recorded distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determine at least two graphics processing units (GPUs) are in communication with the positional only shading pipeline;

generate geometry streams for the at least two GPUs;

expose the surface triangles to a vertex shader;

generate, by the render pipe, stream out data, wherein the stream out data is to include vertices for tessellations of patches;

adjust a granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones based on a position of one or more of the surface triangles, the lens parameters or attributes of the stream out data, wherein the attributes of the stream out data include one or more of granularity of the stream out data, motion or direction of one or more objects or a gaze of a user;

based on the adjustment of the granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones, expose the stream out data to the vertex shader in the positional only shading pipeline; and

cull, by the positional only shading pipeline, the stream out data,

wherein the at least two GPUs render the primitives based on the number and size of the resolution segments and the distribution and density attributes.

8. The at least one computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a computing device to:

create, by the positional only shading pipeline, a coarse Z buffer associated with the positional only shading pipeline, wherein the coarse Z buffer is created while processing the geometry data; and

store, by the positional only shading pipeline, one or more of the surface triangles in a coarse Z order as coarse Z buffer triangles, wherein the coarse Z order is a depth sorted order from a Zmax value to a Zmin value, wherein the Zmin value and the Zmax value identify near planes and far planes in the scene.

9. The at least one computer readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a computing device to:

perform, by the positional only shading pipeline, coarse rasterization based on a coarse Z value, wherein the coarse Z value indicates a level of granularity of detail in the scene, wherein the surface triangles stored as the Z buffer triangles include the non-exclusion triangles identified as occluded by at least one of another of the non-exclusion triangles identified as opaque;

size, by the positional only shading pipeline, the coarse Z buffer based on the coarse Z value, wherein the size of the coarse Z buffer is proportional to the coarse Z value, wherein the positional only shading pipeline feeds forward the coarse Z buffer to the render pipe; and

render, by the render pipe, the Z buffer triangles.

10. A method comprising:

processing, by a positional only shading pipeline, geometry data including surface triangles for a digital representation of a scene, comprising;

computing a position of geometry data, the geometry data including surface triangles for the scene;

performing a screen space transformation; and

culling at least one of the surface triangles;

rendering, by a render pipe, the surface triangles remaining following the culling; and

identifying the at least one of the surface triangles culled as exclusion triangles and the surface triangles remaining following the culling as non-exclusion triangles, wherein the surface triangles identified as exclusion triangles include at least a portion of the surface triangles in one or more exclusion zones, and wherein the surface triangles identified as non-exclusion triangles include the surface triangles in one or more non-exclusion zones,

wherein the exclusion zones and non-exclusion zones are sized based on culling parameters, and wherein the culling parameters include at least lens parameters for depth perception of near planes and far planes, and

wherein the geometry data includes primitives, the method further comprising;

processing and sorting the primitives;

recording distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determining a number and size of resolution segments to use to process the primitives based on the recorded distribution and density attributes for the primitives;

determining at least two graphics processing units (GPUs) are in communication with the positional only shading pipeline;

generating geometry streams for of the at least two GPUs;

exposing the surface triangles to a vertex shader;

generating, by the render pipe, stream out data, the stream out data including vertices for tessellations of patches;

adjusting a granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones based on a position of one or more of the surface triangles, the lens parameters or attributes of the stream out data, wherein the attributes of the stream out data include one or more of granularity of the stream out data, motion or direction of one or more objects or a gaze of a user;

based on the adjusting of the granularity setting for the exclusion zones or the non-exclusion zones, exposing the stream out data to the vertex shader in the positional only shading pipeline;

culling, by the positional only shading pipeline, the stream out data; and

rendering, by the at least two GPUs, the primitives based on one or more of the number and size of the resolution segments or the distribution and density attributes.

11. The method of claim 10,

wherein the processing, by the positional only shading pipeline, further comprises:

creating a coarse Z buffer associated with the positional only shading pipeline, wherein the coarse Z buffer is created while processing the geometry data,

storing one or more of the surface triangles in a coarse Z order as Z buffer triangles, wherein the coarse Z order is a depth sorted order from a Zmax value to a Zmin value, wherein the Zmin value and the Zmax value identify near planes and far planes in the scene,

performing coarse rasterization based on a coarse Z value, wherein the coarse Z value indicates a level of granularity of detail in the scene, wherein the surface triangles stored as the Z buffer triangles include the non-exclusion triangles identified as occluded by at least one of another of the non-exclusion triangles identified as opaque,

sizing the coarse Z buffer based on the coarse Z value, wherein the size of the coarse Z buffer is proportional to the coarse Z value, and

feeding forward the coarse Z buffer to the render pipe, the method further comprising rendering, by the render pipe, the coarse Z buffer triangles.