Ray Tracing using HIP

2026-02-27

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenge of efficiently implementing ray tracing on AMD GPU platforms by proposing a hardware-software co-design approach based on the HIP programming model and the HIPRT framework. It presents the first systematic integration of HIP with AMD’s dedicated hardware ray tracing units, known as Ray Accelerators. Through optimized rendering pipeline design and data scheduling strategies, the proposed method substantially enhances ray tracing performance. The study establishes a reusable and practical technical pathway for high-performance graphics rendering and scientific simulation applications on AMD architectures, offering valuable insights and implementation guidance for developers and researchers targeting this platform.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML
• Computer Vision: Motion & Tracking
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web applications in cross-disciplinary domains and verticals such as mixed reality, smart cities, and digital health
• Responsible Web: Data and user privacy-enhancing technologies for the Web
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Querying, indexing, and retrieval in Web-related graphs

Abstract

In this technical report, we introduce the basics of ray tracing and explain how to accelerate the computation of the rendering algorithm in HIP. We also show how to use a HIP ray tracing framework - HIPRT, leveraging hardware ray tracing features of AMD GPUs. We conclude this technical report with a list of references for further reading.

Problem

• Ray Tracing
• HIP
• Rendering Algorithm
• GPU Acceleration

Innovation

• Ray Tracing
• HIP
• HIPRT
• AMD GPU
• Hardware Acceleration