Nvidia Corporation

Other

James Robertson

John Matthew Burgess

William P Newhall, Jr

Gregory Muthler

Ronald Charles Babich, Jr

Greg Muthler

Peter Michael Nelson

Peter B Holmqvist

George R Lynch

Karan Mehra

Jerome Francis Duluk, Jr

Steven E Molnar

Shirish C Gadre

Emmett Michael Kilgariff

James Michael O'Connor

Patrick Richard Brown

Steven James Heinrich

Wishwesh Anil Gandhi

Magnus Andersson

David Kirk McAllister

Michael Alan Fetterman

Timothy John Purcell

Omkar Paranjape

Christian Amsinck

Nick Barrow-Williams

Mark Alan Gebhart

Ramesh Jandhyala

Hemayet Hossain

Peter Nelson

Raghavan Madhavan

Mitchell Hayenga

Magnus Anderson

In a ray tracer, to prevent any long-running query from hanging the graphics processing unit, a traversal coprocessor provides a preemption mechanism that will allow rays to stop processing or time out early. The example non-limiting implementations described herein provide such a preemption mechanism, including a forward progress guarantee, and additional programmable timeout options that can be time or cycle based. Those programmable options provide a means for quality of service timing guarantees for applications such as virtual reality (VR) that have strict timing requirements.

Method for forward progress and programmable timeouts of tree traversal mechanisms in hardware

Enhanced techniques applicable to a ray tracing hardware accelerator for traversing a hierarchical acceleration structure are disclosed. The traversal efficiency of such hardware accelerators are improved, for example, by transforming a ray, in hardware, from the ray's coordinate space to two or more coordinate spaces at respective points in traversing the hierarchical acceleration structure. In one example, the hardware accelerator is configured to transform a ray, received from a processor, from the world space to at least one alternate world space and then to an object space in hardware before a corresponding ray-primitive intersection results are returned to the processor. The techniques disclosed herein facilitate the use of additional coordinate spaces to orient acceleration structures in a manner that more efficiently approximate the space occupied by the underlying primitives being ray-traced.

Ray tracing hardware acceleration with alternative world space transforms

In a streaming cache, multiple, dynamically sized tracking queues are employed. Request tracking information is distributed among the plural tracking queues to selectively enable out-of-order memory request returns. A dynamically controlled policy assigns pending requests to tracking queues, providing for example in-order memory returns in some contexts and/or for some traffic and out of order memory returns in other contexts and/or for other traffic.

Out of order memory request tracking structure and technique

Method for programmable timeouts of tree traversal mechanisms in hardware

Method for forward progress tree traversal mechanisms in hardware

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for processing commands received by an intermediary cache from one or more clients. The technique involves receiving a first write command from an arbiter unit, where the first write command specifies a first memory address, determining that a first cache line related to a set of cache lines included in the intermediary cache is associated with the first memory address, causing data associated with the first write command to be written into the first cache line, and marking the first cache line as dirty. The technique further involves determining whether a total number of cache lines marked as dirty in the set of cache lines is less than, equal to, or greater than a first threshold value, and: not transmitting a dirty data notification to the frame buffer logic when the total number is less than the threshold value, or transmitting a dirty data notification to the frame buffer logic when the total number is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

Control mechanism for fine-tuned cache to backing-store synchronization

A method for managing memory traffic includes causing first data to be written to a data cache memory, where a first write request comprises a partial write and writes the first data to a first portion of the data cache memory, and further includes tracking the number of partial writes in the data cache memory. The method further includes issuing a fill request for one or more partial writes in the data cache memory if the number of partial writes in the data cache memory is greater than a predetermined first threshold.

Reducing memory traffic in DRAM ECC mode

A system and method for performing zero-bandwidth-clears reduces external memory accesses by a graphics processor when performing clears and subsequent read operations. A set of clear values is stored in the graphics processor. Each region of a color or z buffer may be configured using a zero-bandwidth-clear command to reference a clear value without writing the external memory. The clear value is provided to a requestor without accessing the external memory when a read access is performed.

Zero-bandwidth clears

A radar reflector buoy is disclosed comprising a unitary molded inflatable hollow body with an enlarged or thickened portion which is used to attach the buoy to an anchor. The thickened portion includes a mount for an internal staff and corner radar reflector. Also disclosed is a process for producing the radar reflective buoy. The process involved open molding of the attachment area from a liquid unpolymerized polymer, partially curing it with a mount for a radar reflector staff in place, transferring the attachment area to a rotational molding apparatus, inserting a radar corner reflector and rotational molding the buoy body from a compatible powdered polymer.

Radar reflective buoy and method of manufacturing the same

A novel battery powered lamp is disclosed which includes a hollow housing, a light bulb disposed in the housing for external illumination, a battery in the housing and switch means. In one embodiment, the switch means is a rotary switch having a manually rotatable arm extending through the housing, preferably at the rear end, for movement into and out of contact with a contact plate. In another embodiment, a flexible resilient electrically insulative biasing block is interposed between the bulb and battery and bears contacts. The block preferably supports the bulb while biasing the contacts in place against the bulb and battery. In a third embodiment, the bulb is socketless and has its base embedded in the block so that it is suspended in a transparent portion of the housing. Each embodiment is simple to assemble and use, inexpensive to make and maintain, efficient and durable. All are utilizable as portable flashlights and the like, and are capable of being made weatherproof.

Battery powered lamp

A floating seat cushion which is capable of emergency use as a life preserver. The seat cushion comprises a center core of open cell polyurethane foam material surrounded by an outer layer of closed cell polyethylene foam material. A belt extends transversely adjacent one side of the center core to form a pair of loops which extend outwardly from opposite sides of the cushion. The belt is preferably laminated between the center core and outer layer. The cushion is preferably formed by placing the center core outer layer and belt in overlying relationship to each other with adhesive between them. The assembly is then placed in a press and compressed to cause the center core to collapse so that the peripheral portions of the outer layer can be bonded together to enclose the center core. Air is then replaced into the center core to cause the cushion to assume a convex or crown shape. The completed cushion is preferably coated with vinyl.

Method of making floating seat cushion

A heat shield for use with freestanding fuel-burning stoves, furnaces, fireplaces and the like, in the form of a modular panel assembly for securance over a wall in spaced relation to said freestanding unit; parallel-spaced, large area, anti-buckling specially-contoured partitions behind the front face of the panel assembly define plural vertical passages layered over the wall for air entering at an intake at the bottom and exiting at an exhaust at the top; louvers at the intake and exhaust align with the respective plural air passages and co-act with the interior partition structure of the invention to produce a sharp thermal gradiant between the front face and any wall protected from a source of heat by the invention, the front face of the panel assembly being hottest, and successive interior partitions and the wall protected being successively cooler as result of convective cooling combined with radiative shielding; special slot and attachment structure further prevents buckling from thermal expansion.

Freestanding-fireplace and stove heat shield

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

James Robertson