REAL3D R3D/PRO-1000

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REAL3D&#174 R3D/PRO-1000

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REAL3D Support Desk
Commercial Visuals Systems
Lockheed Martin Information Systems Co.
MP-838
12506 Lake Underhill Rd.
Orlando, FL 32825

Phone: 1-800-393-7730 or 407-826-7302

Fax: 407-826-3358 E-mail: [*]real3d@mmc.com

REAL3D&#174 is a Trademark of Lockheed Martin Information Systems

Company
PRODUCT INFORMATION:

[*]REAL3D is an unprecedented initiative that puts high-end visual

simulation capability into the hands of users seeking to exploit
real-time 3-D graphics technology for price-sensitive professional
and consumer applications. The R3D/PRO-1000 gives computer simulation
and training professionals an unmatched price/performance package
for developing and delivering real time 3-D simulation products.
Key applications include ship handling, flight simulation, driver
training, rail training, and location based entertainment.

The R3D/PRO-1000 was announced at the ITEC conference (April 1995)

and will be available for limited release for qualified partners
and application developers beginning Q4/95. Shipments to U.S. and
foreign customers will begin Q1/96.
COMPANY INFORMATION:

Formed by the merger of Lockheed with Martin Marietta in 1995, Lockheed

Martin is the world's largest defense, DOE, and NASA contractor.
The Information Systems Company, part of Martin Marietta before the
merger, employs 2,600.
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SYSTEM OVERVIEW:

The R3D/PRO-1000 consists of a geometry processor and one, two or

four pixel processors. This unit can provide one or two display channels,
and multiple units can be connected to one host processor, using
differential SCSI II bus.

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UPDATE RATE:

Basic system performance is specified as 30 Hz, but 60 Hz update

is also available.
TRANSPORT DELAY:
Transport delay for the R3D/PRO-1000 is measured from the time a
control input is received from the Application Host until the end
of the display of the first video field affected by that input. The
normal transport delay is 112 milliseconds for 30 Hz operation, or
56 ms for 60 Hz operation.
HOST INTERFACE:

Differential SCSI II ports are utilized to pass database and real-

time control parameters to the R3D/PRO-1000. SCSI II provides maximum
flexibility in two critical areas: the number of channels, and the
selection of host control computers. SCSI II permits from one to
seven devices to be connected to one controller card; users simply
add more controller cards to the host computer to expand channel
capacity. Since the R3D/PRO-1000 can be driven by any computer containing
a differential SCSI II port, it will operate in just about any host
environment, from personal computers to high-powered workstations.

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SYSTEM CAPACITY:

POLYGONS PER CHANNEL:

Throughput averages 750,000 polygons per second per R3D/PRO-1000

unit. Polygons are fully rendered, textured, shaded, fogged, anti-
aliased, translucent, three- or four-vertex objects in the scene.

POLYGONS PER SYSTEM:

The 750,000 polygons per second can be concentrated in one channel,

or distributed across two video channels.
LIGHTS PER CHANNEL:

Point lights are rendered as special case polygons, with minimum

size clamps to ensure the light does not extinguish until desired.
Modifiers to the range fading function also ensure that point lights
realistically "poke through the haze." Point lights are rendered
for raster displays, and can be traded 1:1 for polygons.
LIGHTS PER SYSTEM:

As described above, the limit on point lights is based on how many

polygons are traded off.
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DISPLAY ISSUES:

PIXEL FORMATS:

The display formats are controlled by software, and can be changed

easily by loading initialization scripts. One channel can have up
to 1022H X 768V pixels. Support for RS-170 and RS-343 standard video
timing and levels is provided. The system will support both interlaced
and non-interlaced display configurations for a wide variety of display
devices.
PIXEL FILL RATE:
A single pixel fill processor is capable of providing a fill rate
of 50 million pixels per second. Two or four processors can be plugged
into the same board to increase this rate to 100 or 200 million pixels
per second.
DISTORTION CORRECTION:

Linear (keystone) distortion correction, the ability to supply channels

with unequal half-angles, is a standard capability of the R3D/PRO-
1000.
DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS:

The R3D/PRO-1000 does not require the display to extend the length
of a field, and can thus be used with commonly available inexpensive
display devices.

R3D/PRO-1000 uses a video genlock signal to ensure all display channels

are updated at the same instant in time. This signal can be from
the output of the R3D/PRO-1000 or from an external source. Output
signals are standard analog RGB and composite sync.
OPTIONS:

Up to four pixel fill processors can be applied to a configuration

for up to two output channels or higher pixel depth complexity.
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TEXTURE:

Color texture maps derived from several sources including high-altitude

aerial photography, satellite imagery, and hand-held cameras, can
be applied to provide high detail imagery. The addition of texture
does not affect the polygon processing capacity.
TEXTURE MEMORY:

Rich, photographic quality surface detail can be created using up

to 192, 128 x 128 texel full-color trilinear interpolated MIP-mapped
texture maps. True-perspective corrected texture maps are applied
in hardware, in real-time using patented algorithms developed during
15 years of pioneering visual systems design. Smooth detail transitions
are assured with up to nine blended levels of detail, including microtexture
processing, to provide the critical detail needed for "up-close"
applications.

Texture maps are stored as sixteen bits per texel. The sixteen bits
can be assigned in any of the following ways:
���
���4 bit monochrome texturing
���8 bit monochrome texturing
���16 bit (4 ea. R, G, B color + 4 bit translucency)
���16 bit (5 ea. R, G, B color + 1 bit contour)

MAP SIZES:

Texture maps can be as small as 32 x 32 texels, or as large as 512

x 512 texels. The map allocation is performed during database design.

MAPS PER POLYGON:

One standard map (with color and translucency) and one microtexture
map can be applied per polygon. Control of size, direction, and sharpness
is provided to the database designer on a per-polygon basis.
TEXTURE PLACEMENT:

Each polygon's vertices are linked to specific locations in the texture

map. Adjacent polygons which share vertices are processed to ensure
no discontinuities exist.
TEXTURE FEATURES:

Both color and monochrome texture maps are available. The full color
information is stored in the map, and users are not limited to merely
modulating between two discrete colors.

Maps can repeat within a polygon, or can "mirror" the map contents,
allowing users to save map space. Singular or repeating texture maps
can join at polygon boundaries with no detectable seam.

Microtexture is provided to increase the dynamic range of the photographic

texture to cover faraway to near surface distances. Microtexture
allows two different texture patterns to be added together and placed
on any surface. The microtexture pattern will emerge as the viewpoint
moves closer to the textured surface. Microtexture is a user-defined
high contrast generic pattern.
TEXTURE MANAGEMENT:

A pixel's texturing is determined by trilinear interpolation smoothing

between the adjacent texture elements (texels) and LODs. All possible
LODs are stored in a MIP-mapped image pyramid, for simultaneous real-
time access. All calculations are performed with the precision necessary
to avoid texture aliasing, and prevent LOD "bow-wave" effects.
TEXTURE PAGING:

The R3D/PRO-1000 can update the contents of texture map memory based
on commands from the Host CPU at a non-real-time rate.
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PRIORITY TECHNIQUE:

The R3D/PRO-1000 uses a Z buffer with 22 bit floating point precision

(six bits exponent, 16 bits mantissa) per pixel. Layering of co-planar
polygons and forced (high priority) polygons are available.
LEVELS OF OCCULTING:

Since the R3D/PRO-1000 is a Z buffer architecture, the number of

occulting levels is only limited by the number of polygons being
processed.
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ANTI-ALIASING:

Real-time anti-aliasing, typically the most expensive component of

image generator hardware, is traditionally overlooked in industry
attempts to provide low cost, high performance graphics engines.
Lockheed Martin breaks the tradition with a patent pending algorithm
that bridges the price/performance gap and offers image quality normally
found in much higher priced competitive systems.
Polygon edges are anti-aliased with the new S-Buffer algorithm. This
algorithm avoids the high costs of storing subpixel information,
yet achieves nearly identical performance. Several polygons may occupy
a single pixel, and the S-Buffer will resolve the partial polygon
areas with a resolution of one part in sixteen.
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DATABASE MANAGEMENT:

All database management must be performed by the Host CPU. The polygon
processor supports four levels of detail for database objects, and
128 feature types. This flexibility allows designers precise control
over database complexity, allowing them to fully minimize the risks
of real-time scene degradation.
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OVERLOAD MANAGEMENT:

System load management statistics can be returned to the Host CPU

for purposes of managing overloads. The R3D/PRO-1000 can operate
in three modes:
���Workstation Mode: non-real-time; the R3D/PRO-1000 renders the imagery
���until completion.
���Frame Lock Mode: the R3D/PRO-1000 maintains the specified 30 or
���60 Hz update rate regardless of the impact on displayed scene
���quality.
���Overload Protect Mode: the R3D/PRO-1000 drops back to half the
���update rate when an overload condition is encountered.

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SYSTEM FEATURES:

NUMBER OF DYNAMIC MODELS:

Up to 4095 simultaneous dynamic coordinate systems can be present

in the system.
ANIMATION:

Real-time animation effects are supported by allowing the Host CPU

to cycle through pre-stored versions of dynamic models.
FOG IMPLEMENTATION:

Per-pixel range is used, along with a fog density coefficient, to

calculate a percentage of visibility range value. This value is then
applied to a fading attenuation curve to calculate a per-pixel contrast
adjustment.
CLOUD DECKS:

Cloud decks are provided by textured layers which are located at

any altitude desired. Terrain and 3-D objects may interpenetrate
the cloud decks, and will be properly anti-aliased. Programmable
visibility is available inside the cloud layer.
HEIGHT ABOVE TERRAIN:
The R3D/PRO-1000 does not inherently calculate height above terrain.
Lockheed Martin can offer advice on integrating this feature into
the Host CPU.
COLLISION DETECTION:

The R3D/PRO-1000 does not inherently calculate collision detection.

Lockheed Martin can offer advice on integrating this feature into
the Host CPU.
LINE OF SIGHT RANGING:

The system can be directed to report the depth (Z) to any point as
defined by its pixel location. This feature can accurately detect
when a portion of a polygon has been declared translucent by virtue
of its texturing, and instead report the range to the closest opaque
polygon beyond. This method relies on locating the LOS within the
field of view of a display channel. Range is reported with 22-bit
floating point accuracy (six bits exponent, 16 bits mantissa).
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SURFACE EFFECTS:

TRANSPARENCY:

Translucent polygons are available. Thirty-two levels of transparency

can be assigned. Pixel processing load is increased by each translucent
layer, as each one causes a pixel visit. Translucency can be invoked
as a polygon attribute for LOD blending, or per-pixel based on the
texture map contents.
LUMINOUS POLYGONS:

Luminous polygons are available. Luminous polygons have modifiers

to the range fading function to ensure these polygons realistically
"poke through the haze."
SWITCH CONTROLS:

Light and polygon intensities can be controlled via Host CPU manipulation
of the color tables.
COLORS AVAILABLE:

There are two color tables with 4096 entries each available on-line.
These color tables define the RGB components of each entry. The color
table addresses are defined in the polygon data in the database.
The color RGB definitions may be modified in real-time if required
by the simulation.

Several tables can be made available for loading as required to define

changing times of day or weather conditions which occur during the
course of a simulation such as day, night, dusk, snow, wet, ice,
and temperature for thermal sensor simulation.
SURFACE MATERIALS:

Return of surface material information is not inherently provided

by the R3D/PRO-1000.
SHADING:

The following types of polygon shading are available:

���
���Flat polygon shading is available and any polygon can be shaded
���based on the real-time sun vector and ambient lighting parameters.
���Flat polygon shading can be used alone or in combination with
���one of the available texture capabilities on either terrain or
���3-D models.
���Fixed shading is available for polygons which are not affected
���by sun or ambient illumination.
���Curved surface (Gouraud) shading is available and any polygon can
���be shaded based on the real-time sun vector and ambient lighting.
���Curved surface (Gouraud) shading can be used alone or in combination
���with one of the available texture capabilities on 3-D models.
���
���Specular shading is available and any polygon can be shaded based
���on the real-time sun vector and ambient lighting. A polygon may
���be simultaneously flat shaded and specular shaded.

Shading does not impact the polygon processing capacity of the system.

SENSOR SIMULATION:

The R3D/PRO-1000 does not inherently provide sensor simulation, other

than providing separate color tables per channel.
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MODELING TOOLS:

Open system design features permit 3rd party software developers

to port popular run-time and database development tools, such as
Gemini Technology Corporation's popular GVS&#174 package, to the
R3D/PRO-1000 platform for supercharged real-time graphics performance.
GVS supports many industry standard database formats, including MultiGen
Flight&#174 , Wavefront&#174 , Alias&#174 , Softimage&#174 , and
3D Studio&#174 . Current GVS applications will port to the R3D/PRO-
1000 with minimal effort, thus creating genuine cross-platform independence
and an open system approach to teal-time image generation.
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OTHER COMMENTS:

Gemini Technology Corporation has announced support for the R3D/PRO-

1000 graphics engine. Gemini will port their OpenGVS application
program interface and associated libraries to the R3D/PRO-1000.

OpenGVS&#174 is a Trademark of Gemini Technology Corporation. All

other trade names referenced are the trademarks or registered trademarks
of the respective manufacturers.

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To find out why real time graphics will never be the same again,
just call 1-800-393-7730 or send email to [*]real3d@mmc.com

Created by [*]Jeff Potter