LUX: A Heterogeneous Parallel Computer Dedicated to Ray Tracing
Résumé
In this paper, we present an heterogeneous parallel computer dedicated to high realism computer graphics. A small network, with a reduced chip set, allows us to reduce rendering time by a very attractive factor. The low level mechanisms of the network are designed to manage the wide variety of data and algorithms used in computer graphics. Some nodes of the network may be specialized in the most time consuming parts of the algorithm and have specific data paths. Thanks to the function composition scheme, we unify both the management of specialization and of parallelism. Those mechanisms allow flexibility and easy design of programs.