Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-24
2001-08-21
Vo, Cliff N. (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Three-dimension
C345S424000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06278458
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method of reducing and compressing a model, and in particular, to a method of reducing and compressing a model by representing the model as a binary, rectilinear grid and compressing the binary grid.
Polygonal models are often used to represent the physical objects that make up a complex system such as an aircraft engine or a nuclear reactor. These models are abundant in areas such as manufacturing and design. It is often necessary to view a large set of these models simultaneously in order to gain an understanding of a large system or to evaluate design decisions. Each model typically consists of tens of thousands of triangles, and a large system typically consists of hundreds to thousands of models. Each triangle usually contains three vertices and a normal, each requiring three components to define. This quantity of geometric primitives overwhelms current graphics processors and main memory resources, thus requiring methods that can reduce the number of polygons in a model and provide an efficient method for storing the polygonal information. There is a need in the art for methods that reduce the number of polygons in a model and compress the amount of information needed to represent the polygonal model.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a rectilinear grid is positioned over a model to be compressed. Each vertex of the grid is assigned a binary value in response to whether the vertex intersects the model. A cell, defined by a plurality of vertices, is assigned an index corresponding to the binary values of the cell vertices. The index values for a plurality of cells are stored.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5345490 (1994-09-01), Finnigan et al.
patent: 5510838 (1996-04-01), Yomdin et al.
patent: 5561749 (1996-10-01), Schroeder
patent: 5592599 (1997-01-01), Lindholm
patent: 6069634 (2000-05-01), Gibson
Breedlove Jill M.
General Electric Company
Stoner Douglas E.
Vo Cliff N.
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