Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing ray tracing operations in parallel includes receiving a plurality of rays and a corresponding set of material shading instructions for each ray included in the plurality of rays for processing, wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, and each corresponding set of material shading instructions is based at least in part on one or more material properties associated with at least one surface of at least one object included in the 3D environment; assigning each ray included in the plurality of rays to a different processing core included in a plurality of processing cores; and for each ray included in the plurality of rays, causing the processing core assigned to the ray to execute the corresponding set of material shading instructions on the ray to generate a color.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for decompressing a compressed texture block includes identifying a first texel included in a plurality of texels, wherein the plurality of texels forms at least a portion of a compressed texture block; determining a first location within the compressed texel block that corresponds to the first texel; and extracting the first texel from the first location without decompressing any of the other texels included in the plurality of texels.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for compiling a material graph into a set of instructions for execution within an execution unit includes receiving a first material graph having a plurality of nodes, wherein each node included in the plurality of nodes represents a different surface property of a material; parsing the material graph to generate an expression tree that includes one or more expressions for each node included in the plurality of nodes; and generating a set of byte code instructions corresponding to the material graph based on the expression tree, wherein the byte code instructions are executable by a plurality of processing cores included within the execution unit.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing data within a fixed-function pipeline included in an execution unit includes receiving a first input from a first processing unit, wherein the first input corresponds to a first fixed-function; executing the first fixed-function on the first input to generate a first output, wherein the first fixed-function is executed on the first input prior to executing the first fixed-function on one or more inputs received from a plurality of processing cores that are processing a plurality of rays, and wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment; and transmitting the first output to the first processing unit for further processing.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing ray tracing operations in parallel includes receiving a plurality of rays and a corresponding set of importance sampling instructions for each ray included in the plurality of rays for processing, wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, and each corresponding set of importance sampling instruction is based at least in part on one or more material properties associated with at least one surface of at least one object included in the 3D environment; assigning each ray included in the plurality of rays to a different processing core included in a plurality of processing cores; and for each ray included in the plurality of rays, causing the processing core assigned to the ray to execute the corresponding set of importance sampling instructions on the ray to generate a direction for a secondary ray that is produced when the ray intersects a surface of an object within the

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing ray tracing operations in parallel includes receiving a plurality of rays and a corresponding set of importance sampling instructions for each ray included in the plurality of rays for processing, wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, and each corresponding set of importance sampling instruction is based at least in part on one or more material properties associated with at least one surface of at least one object included in the 3D environment; assigning each ray included in the plurality of rays to a different processing core included in a plurality of processing cores; and for each ray included in the plurality of rays, causing the processing core assigned to the ray to execute the corresponding set of importance sampling instructions on the ray to generate a direction for a secondary ray that is produced when the ray intersects a surface of an object within the

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing data within a fixed-function pipeline included in an execution unit includes receiving a first input from a first processing unit, wherein the first input corresponds to a first fixed-function; executing the first fixed-function on the first input to generate a first output, wherein the first fixed-function is executed on the first input prior to executing the first fixed-function on one or more inputs received from a plurality of processing cores that are processing a plurality of rays, and wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment; and transmitting the first output to the first processing unit for further processing.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing ray tracing operations in parallel includes receiving a plurality of rays and a corresponding set of material shading instructions for each ray included in the plurality of rays for processing, wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, and each corresponding set of material shading instructions is based at least in part on one or more material properties associated with at least one surface of at least one object included in the 3D environment; assigning each ray included in the plurality of rays to a different processing core included in a plurality of processing cores; and for each ray included in the plurality of rays, causing the processing core assigned to the ray to execute the corresponding set of material shading instructions on the ray to generate a color.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for processing ray tracing operations in parallel includes receiving a plurality of rays and a corresponding set of importance sampling instructions for each ray included in the plurality of rays for processing, wherein each ray represents a path from a light source to at least one point within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, and each corresponding set of importance sampling instruction is based at least in part on one or more material properties associated with at least one surface of at least one object included in the 3D environment; assigning each ray included in the plurality of rays to a different processing core included in a plurality of processing cores; and for each ray included in the plurality of rays, causing the processing core assigned to the ray to execute the corresponding set of importance sampling instructions on the ray to generate a direction for a secondary ray that is produced when the ray intersects a surface of an object within the

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for compiling a material graph into a set of instructions for execution within an execution unit includes receiving a first material graph having a plurality of nodes, wherein each node included in the plurality of nodes represents a different surface property of a material; parsing the material graph to generate an expression tree that includes one or more expressions for each node included in the plurality of nodes; and generating a set of byte code instructions corresponding to the material graph based on the expression tree, wherein the byte code instructions are executable by a plurality of processing cores included within the execution unit.

Abstract: One embodiment of a computer-implemented method for decompressing a compressed texture block includes identifying a first texel included in a plurality of texels, wherein the plurality of texels forms at least a portion of a compressed texture block; determining a first location within the compressed texel block that corresponds to the first texel; and extracting the first texel from the first location without decompressing any of the other texels included in the plurality of texels.