Hybrid sort-first and sort-last parallel rendering with a cluster of PCs
- 1 August 2000
- proceedings article
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Abstract
We investigate a new hybrid of sort-first and sort-last approach for parallel polygon rendering, using as a target platform a cluster of PCs. Unlike previous methods that statically partition the 3D model and/or the 2D image, our approach performs dynamic, view-dependent and coordinated partitioning of both the 3D model and the 2D image. Using a specific algorithm that follows this approach, we show that it performs better than previous approaches and scales better with both processor count and screen resolution. Overall, our algorithm is able to achieve interactive frame rates with efficiencies of 55.0% to 70.5% during simulations of a system with 64 PCs. While it does have potential disadvantages in client-side processing and in dynamic data management—which also stem from its dynamic, view-dependent nature—these problems are likely to diminish with technology trends in the future.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hybrid sort-first and sort-last parallel rendering with a cluster of PCsPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,2000
- Load balancing for multi-projector rendering systemsPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1999
- UTLBPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1998
- An introduction to parallel renderingParallel Computing, 1997
- InfiniteRealityPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1997
- Myrinet: a gigabit-per-second local area networkIEEE Micro, 1995
- The sort-first rendering architecture for high-performance graphicsPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1995
- The Geometry EngineACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, 1982
- Simulation and expected performance analysis of multiple processor Z-buffer systemsPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1980
- Distributing a visible surface algorithm over multiple processorsPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1977