Using messaging to manage scene-based rendering

• US 20010030647A1
• Filed: 01/11/2001
• Published: 10/18/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Rushforth, Kevin, Sowizral, Henry, Twilleager, Doug
• Granted Patent: US 7,061,486 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/420
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/005 General purpose rendering architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/005 Tree description, e.g. octree, quadtree
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/61 Scene description

Abstract

A system and method for rapid processing of scene-graph-based data and/or programs is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system may be configured to utilize a scene graph directly. In another embodiment, the system may be configured to generate a plurality of structures and thread that manage the data originally received as part of the scene graph. The structures and threads may be configured to convey information about state changes through the use of messaging. The system may include support for messaging between threads, messaging with time and/or event stamps, epochs to ensure consistency, and ancillary structures such as render-bins, geometry structures, and rendering environment structures.

Claims

1. A computer program embodied on an electronic medium, wherein the computer program is configured to:

create a scene graph by;

adding a first object to a hierarchy;

adding a second object to the hierarchy; and

defining a parent-child relationship between the first and second objects;

create a plurality of data structures and threads, wherein the threads are configured to generate messages to specify state changes, wherein each data structure corresponds to a particular type of object in the hierarchy, wherein each object in the hierarchy has an entry in at least one of the data structures, wherein each thread is configured to execute one of the data structures; and

render the scene graph by executing the threads in lieu of traversing the scene graph.

2. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein the messages can be multicast to multiple data structures or unicast to a single data structure.

3. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein the messages include a time stamp.

4. The computer program of

claim 3

, wherein the time stamp is a change count.

5. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein the messages include an event stamp.

6. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein the messages are utilized to allow parallel processing of the threads.

7. The computer program of

claim 1

, further comprising transmitting one or more of the data structures to a remote processor for remote processing.

8. The computer program of

claim 1

, further comprising transmitting one or more of the threads to a remote processor for remote processing.

9. The computer program of

claim 1

, further comprising transmitting at least a subset of the messages from a local processor across a network to a remote processor.

10. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein each data structure includes a task queue.

11. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein the task queue is configured to store incoming messages that are to be processed by the thread corresponding to the data structure.

12. The computer program of

claim 1

, wherein each data structure corresponds to a particular thread, wherein the particular thread is configured to process any received messages that relate to the corresponding data structure.

13. A method of parallel processing graphics data, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of data structures from a scene graph;

creating at least one thread that operates on each data structure, wherein at least a subset of the threads are configured to generate messages to communicate state changes to one or more of the data structures; and

executing at least a subset of the threads in parallel, wherein at least one of the threads is configured to read and render data from at least one of the data structures, wherein at least a subset of the threads render a frame based on the scene graph.

14. The method of

claim 13

, wherein the threads executed in parallel.

15. The method of

claim 13

, further comprising transmitting at least one of the data structures and corresponding threads across a network to a remote processor, wherein the remote processor is configured to execute the corresponding threads, wherein the remote processor is configured to convey messages generated by the corresponding threads across the network.

16. The method of

claim 13

, further comprising transmitting at least one of the data structures and corresponding threads across a network to each of a plurality of remote processors, wherein each remote processor is configured to execute the threads corresponding to the data structure received by the remote processor, wherein each remote processor is configured to convey messages generated by the corresponding threads across the network.

17. The method of

claim 13

, wherein the messages include a time stamp.

18. The method of

claim 17

, wherein the time stamp is a change count.

19. The method of

claim 13

, wherein the messages include an event stamp.

20. The method of

claim 13

, wherein each data structure includes a message queue configured to store incoming messages.

21. The method of

claim 20

, wherein each data structure'"'"'s threads are configured to process messages stored in the data structure'"'"'s message queue.

22. A computer program embodied on an electronic medium, wherein the computer program is an application program interface, and wherein the program comprises a plurality of instructions configured to:

create a scene graph for an application by;

adding a first pointer to the scene graph, wherein the first pointer points to a first object;

adding a second pointer to the scene graph, wherein the second pointer points to a second object;

defining a parent-child relationship between the first and second objects;

create a plurality of data structures and threads for an application program, wherein the threads are configured to generate messages to specify state changes in the scene graph or the objects,

wherein each data structure corresponds to a particular type of object in the scene graph,

wherein each object in the scene graph has an entry in at least one of the data structures, and

wherein each thread is configured to execute one of the data structures; and

render the scene graph for an application program by executing the threads in lieu of traversing the scene graph.

23. The computer program of

claim 22

, wherein the messages can be multicast to multiple structures or unicast to a single structure.

24. The computer program of

claim 22

, wherein the messages include a time stamp.

25. The computer program of

claim 24

, wherein the time stamp is a change count.

26. The computer program of

claim 22

, wherein the messages include an event stamp.

27. The computer program of

claim 22

, wherein the messages are utilized to allow parallel processing of individual threads.

28. The computer program of

claim 22

, further comprising transmitting one or more of the data structures to a remote processor for remote processing.

29. The computer program of

claim 22

, further comprising transmitting the messages from a local processor across a network to a remote processor for parallel processing.

30. The computer program of

claim 22

, wherein each data structure comprises a task queue.

31. The computer program of

claim 30

, wherein the task queue is configured to store incoming messages that are to be processed by the thread corresponding to the task queue'"'"'s data structure.

32. The computer program of

claim 22

, wherein each data structure corresponds to a particular working thread, wherein the particular working thread is configured to process any received messages that relate to the corresponding data structure.