Active pixel merging on hypercube multicomputers

Abstract

This paper presents algorithms developed for pixel merging phase of object-space parallel polygon rendering on hypercube-connected multicomputers. These algorithms reduce volume of communication in pixel merging phase by only exchanging local foremost pixels. In order to avoid message fragmentation, local foremost pixels should be stored in consecutive memory locations. An algorithm, called modified seanline z-buffer, is proposed to store local foremost pixels efficiently. This algorithm also avoids the initialization of scanline z-buffer for each scanline on the screen. Good processor utilization is achieved by subdividing the image-space among the processors in pixel merging phase. Efficient algorithms for load balancing in the pixel merging phase are also proposed and presented. Experimental results obtained on a 16-processor Intel's iPSC/2 hypercube multicomputer are presented. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1996.