Merged Data Paths for Triangle and Box Intersection Testing in Ray Tracing

摘要

A merged data path unit having elements configurable to switch between different instruction types is disclosed herein. A merged data path unit is a pipeline unit with multiple stages. Between the different stages are multiplexer layers that are configurable to route data from the functional blocks of the previous stage to the subsequent stage. The way multiplexer layers are configured for a particular stage is based on the type of instruction being executed in that stage. In some implementations, functional blocks of different stages are configurable by the control unit to change the operations performed. Also, in some implementations, the control unit has a sideband storage that stores "skip stage" data. Examples of merged data paths used to perform ray-triangle intersection tests and ray-box intersection tests are also described herein.