Volume Rendering with the Kubota 3D Imaging and Graphics Accelerator

The Kubota 3D imaging and graphics accelerator, which provides advanced graphics for Digital's DEC 3000 AXP workstations, is the first desktop system to combine three-dimensional imaging and graphics technologies, and thus to fully support volume rendering. The power of the Kubota parallel architecture enables interactive volume rendering. The capability for combining volume rendering with geometry-based rendering distinguishes the Kubota system from more specialized volume rendering systems and enhances its utility in medical, seismic, and computational science applications. To meet the massive storage, processing, and bandwidth requirements associated with volume rendering, the Kubota graphics architecture features a large off-screen frame buffer memory, the parallel processing power of up to 20 pixel engines and 6 geometric transform engines, and wide, high-bandwidth data paths throughout.