基于动态纹理载入的大规模数据场体绘制

为克服图形硬件对传统纹理映射体绘制的限制,提出了一种在普通PC上进行大规模数据场体绘制的有效方法。该方法中,体数据被划分为合适大小的数据块,这些数据块被动态的载入图形硬件,并利用3维纹理映射进行绘制。在整个绘制过程中,仅有一个数据块存储在图形硬件上,有效地提高了对大规模体数据的绘制能力。同时,充分利用目前PC图形硬件成熟的可编程特性,通过对梯度的实时计算来减少在传统纹理映射体绘制中巨大的内存消耗。实验结果表明,该方法在普通PC上可以对超过纹理内存容量的大规模体数据进行交互式体绘制。     

协同分布式图形硬件的混合并行体绘制

由于一般的共享存储并行机缺乏图形硬件,其上产生的3维科学计算数据,无法采用硬件加速的并行体绘制来就地进行数据可视化。为此基于本地并行机和分布式图形工作站,给出了一种混合并行绘制模型。该模型的工作原理是先将源数据存留在并行机,然后通过并行机的多处理器发布远程绘制命令流,进而通过操控工作站的图形硬件完成绘制;后期图像合成在并行机上执行,以发挥共享存储通信优势。通过负载平衡优化,并行绘制流水线有效实现了绘制、合成与显示的重叠。实验结果显示,该方法能以1024×1024图像分辨率,交互绘制并行机上的大规模数据场。     

Real-time visualization of large volume datasets on standard PC hardware

In medical area, interactive three-dimensional volume visualization of large volume datasets is a challenging task. One of the major challenges in graphics processing unit (GPU)-based volume rendering algorithms is the limited size of texture memory imposed by current GPU architecture. We attempt to overcome this limitation by rendering only visible parts of large CT datasets. In this paper, we present an efficient, high-quality volume rendering algorithm using GPUs for rendering large CT datasets at interactive frame rates on standard PC hardware. We subdivide the volume dataset into uniform sized blocks and take advantage of combinations of early ray termination, empty-space skipping and visibility culling to accelerate the whole rendering process and render visible parts of volume data. We have implemented our volume rendering algorithm for a large volume data of 512 x 304 x 1878 dimensions (visible female), and achieved real-time performance (i.e., 3-4 frames per second) on a Pentium 4 2.4GHz PC equipped with NVIDIA Geforce 6600 graphics card ( 256 MB video memory). This method can be used as a 3D visualization tool of large CT datasets for doctors or radiologists.     

Dynamic load balancing for parallel polygon rendering

Using parallel processing for visualization speeds up computer graphics rendering of complex data sets. A parallel algorithm designed for polygon scan conversion and rendering is presented which supports fast rendering of highly complex data sets using advanced lighting models. Dedicated graphics rendering engines do not necessarily suit such data sets, although they can support real-time update of moderately complex scenes using simple lighting. Advantages to using a software-based approach include the feasibility of adding special rendering features to the program and the capability of integrating a parallel scientific application with a parallel graphics renderer. A new work decomposition strategy presented, called task adaptive, is based on dynamically partitioning the amount of computational work left at a given time. The algorithm uses a heuristic for dynamic task decomposition in which image space tasks are partitioned without requiring interruption of the partitioned processor. A sophisticated memory referencing strategy lets local memory access graphics data during rendering. This permits implementation of the algorithm on a distributed memory multiprocessor. An in-depth analysis of the overhead costs accompanying parallel processing shows where performance is adequate or could be improved     

硬件加速的大数据量自适应体绘制

利用树形结构和纹理映射技术,在普通微机上实现对大数据量体数据的实时交互.依靠八叉树结构和显卡的硬件加速功能,将体数据划分为不同精度的数据块,打破了大数据显示时显存与内存间容量和带宽的限制,通过交互策略动态遍历该树,实现对大数据量体数据多精度的绘制.实验结果表明,文中方法在普通微机上可以大于10帧/s的速度交互操纵GB级以上的体数据.该方法可有效地降低体绘制对于硬件的需求,使得在较低配置下对其交互成为可能.     

Stochastic Volume Rendering of Multi‐Phase SPH Data

In this paper, we present a novel method for the direct volume rendering of large smoothed‐particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation data without transforming the unstructured data to an intermediate representation. By directly visualizing the unstructured particle data, we avoid long preprocessing times and large storage requirements. This enables the visualization of large, time‐dependent, and multivariate data both as a post‐process and in situ. To address the computational complexity, we introduce stochastic volume rendering that considers only a subset of particles at each step during ray marching. The sample probabilities for selecting this subset at each step are thereby determined both in a view‐dependent manner and based on the spatial complexity of the data. Our stochastic volume rendering enables us to scale continuously from a fast, interactive preview to a more accurate volume rendering at higher cost. Lastly, we discuss the visualization of free‐surface and multi‐phase flows by including a multi‐material model with volumetric and surface shading into the stochastic volume rendering.     

一种高效体数据压缩算法及其在地震数据处理中的应用

采用可编程图形硬件对大规模体数据进行直接体绘制时常常受到图形卡容量的限制,导致数据在内存与显存之间频繁交换,从而成为绘制的瓶颈.为此,提出一种大规模体数据矢量量化压缩算法.首先对体数据分块,并依据块内数据平均梯度值是否为0对该块进行分类;然后用3层结构表示梯度值非0的块,对其中次高层和最高层采用基于主分量分析分裂法产生初始码书,用LBG算法进行码书优化和量化,而对最低层以及梯度值为0的块采用定比特量化.实验结果表明,在保证较好图像重构质量的前提下,该算法可获得50倍以上的压缩比和更快的解压速度.     

海量数据GPU体绘制优化研究

高性能GPU使得体绘制在廉价的硬件上获得良好的性能,但海量数据体绘制的效率依旧低下.本文探讨了GPU体绘制中图形硬件的瓶颈,并提出新颖的算法解决这些问题:采用数据分块和八叉树划分体数据实现空单元跳过优化.该算法解决了海量数据超过可用纹理空间的难题,同时允许实时改变体绘制传递函数.     

Incremental Volume Rendering Using Hierarchical Compression

We present a new algorithm here for efficient incremental rendering of volumetric datasets. The primary goal of this algorithm is to give average workstations the ability to efficiently render volume data received over relatively low bandwidth network links in such a way that rapid user feedback is maintained. Common limitations of workstation rendering of volume data include: large memory overheads, the requirement of expensive rendering hardware, and high speed processing ability. The rendering algorithm presented here overcomes these problems by making use of the efficient Shear-Warp Factorisation method which does not require specialised graphics hardware. However the original Shear-Warp algorithm suffers from a high memory overhead and does not provide for incremental rendering which is required should rapid user feedback be maintained. Our algorithm represents the volumetric data using a hierarchical data structure which provides for the incremental classification and rendering of volume data. This exploits the multiscale nature of the octree data structure. The algorithm reduces the memory footprint of the original Shear-Warp Factorisation algorithm by a factor of more than two, while maintaining good rendering performance. These factors make our octree algorithm more suitable for implementation on average desktop workstations for the purposes of interactive exploration of volume models over a network. Results from tests using typical volume datasets will be presented which demonstrate the ability of the algorithm to achieve high rendering rates for both incremental rendering and standard rendering while reducing the runtime memory requirements.     

颅面外科手术仿真中的网格简化研究

快速高质量的网格简化是颅颌面手术仿真中的影响网格的实时绘制和软组织变形建模的一个关键步骤.文中提出了一种改进最小二次误差准则网格简化算法.该算法中将边折叠代价计算、边折叠生成点的最优值计算和边折叠操作集成到一个管道中,并且用固定大小的最小代价选择替代堆来取代传统渐进网格算法中的大数据量的贪婪队列结构,从而大大减少了计算运行复杂度.计算机仿真结果显示,三角形面片的数目简化到原来的20%时仍能满足手术仿真中交互绘制的要求.与基于贪婪队列结构的渐进网格简化算法相比,所提出的改进算法能够将网格简化速度提高三倍左右,而内存的占用仅为原来的50%不到,Hausdorff距离误差也相对变小.     

Distributed shared memory for roaming large volumes

We present a cluster-based volume rendering system for roaming very large volumes. This system allows to move a gigabyte-sized probe inside a total volume of several tens or hundreds of gigabytes in real-time. While the size of the probe is limited by the total amount of texture memory on the cluster, the size of the total data set has no theoretical limit. The cluster is used as a distributed graphics processing unit that both aggregates graphics power and graphics memory. A hardware-accelerated volume renderer runs in parallel on the cluster nodes and the final image compositing is implemented using a pipelined sort-last rendering algorithm. Meanwhile, volume bricking and volume paging allow efficient data caching. On each rendering node, a distributed hierarchical cache system implements a global software-based distributed shared memory on the cluster. In case of a cache miss, this system first checks page residency on the other cluster nodes instead of directly accessing local disks. Using two Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces per node, we accelerate data fetching by a factor of 4 compared to directly accessing local disks. The system also implements asynchronous disk access and texture loading, which makes it possible to overlap data loading, volume slicing and rendering for optimal volume roaming.     

Web-Based Remote Renderingwith IBRAC (Image-Based Rendering Acceleration and Compression)

Recent advances in Internet and computer graphics stimulate intensive use and development of 3D graphics on the World Wide Web. To increase efficiency of systems using 3D graphics on the web, the presented method utilizes previously rendered and transmitted images to accelerate the rendering and compression of new synthetic scene images. The algorithm employs ray casting and epipolar constraints to exploit spatial and temporal coherence between the current and previously rendered images. The reprojection of color and visibility data accelerates the computation of new images. The rendering method intrinsically computes a residual image, based on a user specified error tolerance that balances image quality against computation time and bandwidth. Encoding and decoding uses the same algorithm, so the transmitted residual image consists only of significant data without addresses or offsets. We measure rendering speed-ups of four to seven without visible degradation. Compression ratios per frame are a factor of two to ten better than MPEG2 in our test cases. There is no transmission of 3D scene data to delay the first image. The efficiency of the server and client generally increases with scene complexity or data size since the rendering time is predominantly a function of image size. This approach is attractive for remote rendering applications such as web-based scientific visualization where a client system may be a relatively low-performance machine and limited network bandwidth makes transmission of large 3D data impractical.     

GPU加速的台风可视化方法

自然现象的可视化是计算机图形学和虚拟现实领域的重要研究内容。对传统光线投射算法分析的基础上进行改进,提出基于球壳体的光线投射算法。将GPU运用于球壳体数据场的体绘制,设计了基于球壳体数据场的顶点着色程序和像素着色程序。同时,对台风源数据格式进行解析,生成了用于台风可视化的体数据,采用提出的算法实现了台风云层和因子的可视化。实验结果表明,本文基于GPU的球壳体光线投射算法在球体表面较好地实现了实时台风可视化效果。     

海量医学数据处理框架及快速体绘制算法

设计并实现了一套针对海量数据的处理和分析算法框架,并将其融入实验室早先开发完成的医学影像算法研发平台MITK(medical imaging toolkit)中,真正建立起一个海量医学影像数据的处理平台,并在此基础上研究了针对海量数据的基于光线投射和三维纹理的快速体绘制算法,提出了一种半自适应分块的方法对原始数据进行分块,在不对分块速度产生太大影响的基础上得到了更好的分块结果,同时使用图形硬件来进一步加速整个算法的绘制流程.实验结果表明了该平台和算法对于海量医学数据处理和可视化的有效性.     

State‐of‐the‐Art in Compressed GPU‐Based Direct Volume Rendering

Great advancements in commodity graphics hardware have favoured graphics processing unit (GPU)‐based volume rendering as the main adopted solution for interactive exploration of rectilinear scalar volumes on commodity platforms. Nevertheless, long data transfer times and GPU memory size limitations are often the main limiting factors, especially for massive, time‐varying or multi‐volume visualization, as well as for networked visualization on the emerging mobile devices. To address this issue, a variety of level‐of‐detail (LOD) data representations and compression techniques have been introduced. In order to improve capabilities and performance over the entire storage, distribution and rendering pipeline, the encoding/decoding process is typically highly asymmetric, and systems should ideally compress at data production time and decompress on demand at rendering time. Compression and LOD pre‐computation does not have to adhere to real‐time constraints and can be performed off‐line for high‐quality results. In contrast, adaptive real‐time rendering from compressed representations requires fast, transient and spatially independent decompression. In this report, we review the existing compressed GPU volume rendering approaches, covering sampling grid layouts, compact representation models, compression techniques, GPU rendering architectures and fast decoding techniques.     

Ray-driven dynamic working set rendering

Ray tracing a volume scene graph composed of multiple point-based volume objects (PBVO) can produce high quality images with effects such as shadows and constructive operations. A naive approach, however, would demand an overwhelming amount of memory to accommodate all point datasets and their associated control structures such as octrees. This paper describes an out-of-core approach for rendering such a scene graph in a scalable manner. In order to address the difficulty in pre-determining the order of data caching, we introduce a technique based on a dynamic, in-core working set. We present a ray-driven algorithm for predicting the working set automatically. This allows both the data and the control structures required for ray tracing to be dynamically pre-fetched according to access patterns determined based on captured knowledge of ray-data intersection. We have conducted a series of experiments on the scalability of the technique using working sets and datasets of different sizes. With the aid of both qualitative and quantitative analysis, we demonstrate that this approach allows the rendering of multiple large PBVOs in a volume scene graph to be performed on desktop computers.     

Interactive texture-based volume rendering for large data sets

To employ direct volume rendering, TRex uses parallel graphics hardware, software-based compositing, and high-performance I/O to provide near-interactive display rates for time-varying, terabyte-sized data sets. We present a scalable, pipelined approach for rendering data sets too large for a single graphics card. To do so, we take advantage of multiple hardware rendering units and parallel software compositing. The goals of TRex, our system for interactive volume rendering of large data sets, are to provide near-interactive display rates for time-varying, terabyte-sized uniformly sampled data sets and provide a low-latency platform for volume visualization in immersive environments. We consider 5 frames per second (fps) to be near-interactive rates for normal viewing environments and immersive environments to have a lower bound frame rate of l0 fps. Using TRex for virtual reality environments requires low latency - around 50 ms per frame or 100 ms per view update or stereo pair. To achieve lower latency renderings, we either render smaller portions of the volume on more graphics pipes or subsample the volume to render fewer samples per frame by each graphics pipe. Unstructured data sets must be resampled to appropriately leverage the 3D texture volume rendering method     

Interactive level-of-detail selection using image-based quality metric for large volume visualization

For large volume visualization, an image-based quality metric is difficult to incorporate for level-of-detail selection and rendering without sacrificing the interactivity. This is because it is usually time-consuming to update view-dependent information as well as to adjust to transfer function changes. In this paper, we introduce an image-based level-of-detail selection algorithm for interactive visualization of large volumetric data. The design of our quality metric is based on an efficient way to evaluate the contribution of multiresolution data blocks to the final image. To ensure real-time update of the quality metric and interactive level-of-detail decisions, we propose a summary table scheme in response to runtime transfer function changes and a GPU-based solution for visibility estimation. Experimental results on large scientific and medical data sets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithm     

基于Shear-Warp算法的三维地震数据场体绘制

利用三维可视化软件包,采用Shear—Warp算法实现地震数据的模型可视化,并给出了具体算法流程。实验结果表明此算法可提高地震数据的体绘制速度,实现地震数据解释的实时交互式绘制,为地质勘探提供可视化依据。     

A generic and scalable pipeline for GPU tetrahedral grid rendering

Recent advances in algorithms and graphics hardware have opened the possibility to render tetrahedral grids at interactive rates on commodity PCs. This paper extends on this work in that it presents a direct volume rendering method for such grids which supports both current and upcoming graphics hardware architectures, large and deformable grids, as well as different rendering options. At the core of our method is the idea to perform the sampling of tetrahedral elements along the view rays entirely in local barycentric coordinates. Then, sampling requires minimum GPU memory and texture access operations, and it maps efficiently onto a feed-forward pipeline of multiple stages performing computation and geometry construction. We propose to spawn rendered elements from one single vertex. This makes the method amenable to upcoming Direct3D 10 graphics hardware which allows to create geometry on the GPU. By only modifying the algorithm slightly it can be used to render per-pixel iso-surfaces and to perform tetrahedral cell projection. As our method neither requires any pre-processing nor an intermediate grid representation it can efficiently deal with dynamic and large 3D meshes.