Physics processing unitA physics processing unit (PPU) is a dedicated microprocessor designed to handle the calculations of physics, especially in the physics engine of video games. It is an example of hardware acceleration. Examples of calculations involving a PPU might include rigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics, collision detection, fluid dynamics, hair and clothing simulation, finite element analysis, and fracturing of objects.
AgeiaFabless semiconductor company Ageia Technologies, Inc.IndustrySemiconductorsFounded2002DefunctFebruary 13, 2008FateAcquired by and merged into Nvidia CorporationHeadquartersSanta Clara, California, United StatesKey peopleManju Hegde, CEO Curtis Matthew Davis, COO, President, & Co-founderProductsPhysics Processing UnitsPhysics enginesWebsitewww.ageia.com Ageia, founded in 2002, was a fabless semiconductor company.Physics engineA physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, typically classical dynamics, including rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics. It is of use in the domains of computer graphics, video games and film (CGI). Their main uses are in video games (typically as middleware), in which case the simulations are in real-time.
Nvidia GameWorksNvidia GameWorks is a middlewaresoftware suite developed by Nvidia. The Visual FX, PhysX, and Optix SDKs provide a wide range of enhancements pre-optimized for Nvidia GPUs. GameWorks is partially open-source. The competing solution being in development by AMD is GPUOpen, which was announced to be free and open-source software under the MIT License.
NvidiaAmerican multinational technology companyNvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company develops graphics processing units (GPUs), systems on chips (SoCs), and application programming interfaces (APIs) for data science, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and mobile and automotive applications.Hardware accelerationHardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware, known as a hardware accelerator, to perform specific functions faster than can be done by software running on a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU). Any transformation of data that can be calculated by software running on a CPU can also be calculated by an appropriate hardware accelerator, or by a combination of both.Software development kitA software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific to a hardware platform and operating system combination.
MiddlewareMiddleware is a type of computer software program that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement communication and input/output, so they can focus on the specific purpose of their application.Real-time computer graphicsReal-time computer graphics or real-time rendering is the sub-field of computer graphics focused on producing and analyzing images in real time. The term can refer to anything from rendering an application's graphical user interface (GUI) to real-time image analysis, but is most often used in reference to interactive 3D computer graphics, typically using a graphics processing unit (GPU).
Open-source softwareSoftware with publicly available source codeA screenshot of Debian Linux running the Cinnamon desktop environment, featuring Firefox (accessing Wikipedia which uses MediaWiki), LibreOffice Writer, Vim, VLC and Nemo file manager, all of which are open-source softwareOpen-source software (OSS) is computer software whose source code is publicly available, allowing users to use, study, modify, and distribute it — in contrast with proprietary (closed-source) software.Software suiteA software suite (also known as an application suite) is a collection of computer programs (application software, or programming software) of related functionality, sharing a similar user interface and the ability to easily exchange data with each other.
Expansion cardIn computing, an expansion card, also known as an expansion board, adapter card, peripheral card or accessory card, is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector, or expansion slot (also referred to as a bus slot) on a computer's motherboard (see also backplane) to add functionality to a computer system. Sometimes the design of the computer's case and motherboard involves placing most (or all) of these slots onto a separate, removable card.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.