Perspective view generation from digital map databases

The generation of perspective views of 3D surfaces obtained from predetermined view points is a complex and computationaly expensive task requiring the storage, manipulation and transformation of large amounts of data. At present there are a number of conventional algorithms which take digital surface data and process it to produce such images. Current algorithms are inherently sequential and do not, in general, map easily onto parallel processor architectures. This paper describes an algorithm which exploits the data independent nature of the calculations for individual pixel columns of the image and describes how this algorithm can be efficiently mapped onto an array of processors. Using an inherently parallel algorithm perspective views can be produced many times faster and therefore can be used for new applications