{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9818221","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9818221","title":"Start node determination for tree traversal for shadow rays in graphics processing","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2016-02-25T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-11-14T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["G06T","G06T"],"num_claims":30,"abstract":"At least one processor may organize a plurality of primitives of a scene in a hierarchical data structure, wherein a plurality of bounding volumes are associated with a plurality of nodes of the hierarchical data structure. The at least one processor may rasterize a representation of each of the plurality of bounding volumes to an off-screen render target in the memory. The at least one processor may determine, based at least in part on a pixel in the off-screen render target that maps to a ray in the scene, a non-root node of the hierarchical data structure associated with the pixel as a start node to start traversal of the hierarchical data structure. The at least one processor may traverse the hierarchical data structure starting from the start node to determine whether the ray in the scene intersects one of the plurality of primitives."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Start node determination for tree traversal for shadow rays in graphics processing","description":"At least one processor may organize a plurality of primitives of a scene in a hierarchical data structure, wherein a plurality of bounding volumes are associated with a plurality of nodes of the hiera","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9818221","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9818221","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Start node determination for tree traversal for shadow rays in graphics processing\" (US-9818221). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9818221","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9818221","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9818221","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T07:16:47.868Z"}