<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
realtime	B-General_Concept
physics	O
engine	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
SDK	B-Application
developed	O
by	O
Nvidia	O
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
Nvidia	B-Application
GameWorks	I-Application
software	B-Application
suite	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
,	O
video	O
games	O
supporting	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
were	O
meant	O
to	O
be	O
accelerated	B-General_Concept
by	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
PPU	O
(	O
expansion	B-Device
cards	I-Device
designed	O
by	O
Ageia	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
after	O
Ageia	O
's	O
acquisition	O
by	O
Nvidia	O
,	O
dedicated	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
cards	O
have	O
been	O
discontinued	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
being	O
run	O
on	O
CUDA-enabled	O
GeForce	B-Application
GPUs	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
both	O
cases	O
,	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
allowed	O
for	O
the	O
offloading	O
of	O
physics	O
calculations	O
from	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
to	O
perform	O
other	O
tasks	O
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
and	O
other	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
physics	O
engines	O
are	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
large	O
majority	O
of	O
today	O
's	O
video	O
games	O
because	O
they	O
free	O
game	O
developers	O
from	O
having	O
to	O
write	O
their	O
own	O
code	O
that	O
implements	O
classical	O
mechanics	O
(	O
Newtonian	O
physics	O
)	O
to	O
do	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
soft	O
body	O
dynamics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
What	O
is	O
known	O
today	O
as	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
originated	O
as	O
a	O
physics	B-Algorithm
simulation	I-Algorithm
engine	O
called	O
NovodeX	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
engine	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Swiss	O
company	O
NovodeX	B-Operating_System
AG	O
,	O
an	O
ETH	O
Zurich	O
spin-off	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2004	O
,	O
Ageia	O
acquired	O
NovodeX	B-Operating_System
AG	O
and	O
began	O
developing	O
a	O
hardware	O
technology	O
that	O
could	O
accelerate	O
physics	O
calculations	O
,	O
aiding	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ageia	O
called	O
the	O
technology	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
SDK	B-Application
was	O
renamed	O
from	O
NovodeX	B-Operating_System
to	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
the	O
accelerator	O
cards	O
were	O
dubbed	O
PPUs	O
(	O
Physics	O
Processing	O
Units	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
game	O
to	O
use	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
was	O
Bet	B-Application
On	I-Application
Soldier	I-Application
:	I-Application
Blood	I-Application
Sport	I-Application
(	O
2005	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nvidia	O
started	O
enabling	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
on	O
its	O
line	O
of	O
GeForce	B-Application
graphics	O
cards	O
and	O
eventually	O
dropped	O
support	O
for	O
Ageia	O
PPUs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
SDK	I-Operating_System
3.0	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
May	O
2011	O
and	O
represented	O
a	O
significant	O
rewrite	O
of	O
the	O
SDK	B-Application
,	O
bringing	O
improvements	O
such	O
as	O
more	O
efficient	O
multithreading	B-General_Concept
and	O
a	O
unified	O
code	O
base	O
for	O
all	O
supported	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
GDC	O
2015	O
,	O
Nvidia	O
made	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
available	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
but	O
required	O
registration	O
at	O
developer.nvidia.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
proprietary	B-Application
SDK	B-Application
was	O
provided	O
to	O
developers	O
for	O
free	O
for	O
both	O
commercial	O
and	O
non-commercial	O
use	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
platforms	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
3	O
,	O
2018	O
,	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
was	O
made	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
under	O
a	O
3-clause	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
license	I-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
this	O
change	O
applied	O
only	O
to	O
computer	O
and	O
mobile	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
engine	O
and	O
SDK	B-Application
are	O
available	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
,	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
4	I-Operating_System
,	O
Xbox	B-Operating_System
360	I-Operating_System
,	O
Xbox	B-Device
One	I-Device
,	O
Wii	B-Operating_System
,	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
multi-threaded	O
physics	B-Algorithm
simulation	I-Algorithm
SDK	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
physics	O
processing	O
unit	O
(	O
PPU	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
processor	O
specially	O
designed	O
to	O
alleviate	O
the	O
calculation	O
burden	O
on	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
,	O
specifically	O
calculations	O
involving	O
physics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
PPUs	O
were	O
offered	O
to	O
consumers	O
in	O
the	O
forms	O
of	O
PCI	O
or	O
PCIe	O
cards	O
by	O
ASUS	O
,	O
BFG	O
Technologies	O
,	O
Dell	O
and	O
ELSA	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
with	O
version	O
2.8.3	O
of	O
the	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
SDK	I-Operating_System
,	O
support	O
for	O
PPU	O
cards	O
was	O
dropped	O
,	O
and	O
PPU	O
cards	O
are	O
no	O
longer	O
manufactured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thelast	O
incarnation	O
of	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
PPU	O
standalone	O
card	O
designed	O
by	O
Ageia	O
had	O
roughly	O
the	O
same	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
performance	O
as	O
a	O
dedicated	O
9800GTX	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Nvidia	O
's	O
acquisition	O
of	O
Ageia	O
,	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
development	O
turned	O
away	O
from	O
PPU	O
extension	O
cards	O
and	O
focused	O
instead	O
on	O
the	O
GPGPU	B-Architecture
capabilities	O
of	O
modern	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modern	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
are	O
very	O
efficient	O
at	O
manipulating	O
and	O
displaying	O
computer	O
graphics	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
highly	O
parallel	O
structure	O
makes	O
them	O
more	O
effective	O
than	O
general-purpose	O
CPUs	O
for	O
accelerating	O
physical	B-Algorithm
simulations	I-Algorithm
using	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
CUDA-ready	O
GeForce	B-Application
graphics	O
card	O
(	O
8-series	O
or	O
later	O
GPU	B-Architecture
with	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
32	O
cores	O
and	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
256	O
MB	O
dedicated	O
graphics	O
memory	O
)	O
can	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
without	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
install	O
a	O
dedicated	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nvidia	O
APEX	O
technology	O
is	O
a	O
multi-platform	O
scalable	O
dynamics	O
framework	O
build	O
around	O
the	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
SDK	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
first	O
introduced	O
in	O
Mafia	B-Application
II	I-Application
in	O
August	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
version	O
1.4.1	O
APEX	O
SDK	B-Application
is	O
deprecated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
unified	O
physics	O
solvers	O
are	O
a	O
staple	O
of	O
the	O
offline	O
computer	O
graphics	O
world	O
,	O
where	O
tools	O
such	O
as	O
Autodesk	B-Language
Maya	I-Language
's	O
nCloth	O
,	O
and	O
Softimage	B-Device
's	O
Lagoa	O
are	O
widely	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
for	O
FleX	O
is	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
power	O
of	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
to	O
bring	O
the	O
capabilities	O
of	O
these	O
offline	O
applications	O
to	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
computer	I-General_Concept
graphics	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
5	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
Real	O
World	O
Technologies	O
published	O
an	O
analysis	O
of	O
the	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
this	O
analysis	O
,	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
used	O
in	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
applications	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
x87	B-Application
instructions	O
without	O
any	O
multi-threading	O
optimization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
could	O
cause	O
significant	O
performance	O
drops	O
when	O
running	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
code	O
on	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
article	O
suggested	O
that	O
a	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
rewrite	O
using	O
SSE	B-General_Concept
instructions	I-General_Concept
may	O
substantially	O
lessen	O
the	O
performance	O
discrepancy	O
between	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
PhysX	B-Operating_System
and	O
GPU	B-Architecture
PhysX	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
Real	O
World	O
Technologies	O
analysis	O
,	O
Mike	O
Skolones	O
,	O
product	O
manager	O
of	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
,	O
said	O
that	O
SSE	B-General_Concept
support	O
had	O
been	O
left	O
behind	O
because	O
most	O
games	O
are	O
developed	O
for	O
consoles	B-Device
first	O
and	O
then	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
modern	O
computers	O
run	O
these	O
games	O
faster	O
and	O
better	O
than	O
the	O
consoles	B-Device
even	O
with	O
little	O
or	O
no	O
optimization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Senior	O
PR	O
manager	O
of	O
Nvidia	O
,	O
Bryan	O
Del	O
Rizzo	O
,	O
explained	O
that	O
multi-threading	O
had	O
already	O
been	O
available	O
with	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
PhysX	B-Operating_System
2.x	O
and	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
been	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
developer	O
to	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
also	O
stated	O
that	O
automatic	O
multithreading	B-General_Concept
and	O
SSE	B-General_Concept
would	O
be	O
introduced	O
with	O
version	O
3	O
of	O
the	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
SDK	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
SDK	I-Operating_System
3.0	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
May	O
2011	O
and	O
represented	O
a	O
significant	O
rewrite	O
of	O
the	O
SDK	B-Application
,	O
bringing	O
improvements	O
such	O
as	O
more	O
efficient	O
multithreading	B-General_Concept
and	O
a	O
unified	O
code	O
base	O
for	O
all	O
supported	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PhysX	B-Operating_System
technology	O
is	O
used	O
by	O
game	O
engines	O
such	O
as	O
Unreal	B-Operating_System
Engine	I-Operating_System
(	O
version	O
3	O
onwards	O
)	O
,	O
Unity	B-Application
,	O
Gamebryo	O
,	O
Vision	O
(	O
version	O
6	O
onwards	O
)	O
,	O
Instinct	O
Engine	O
,	O
Panda3D	B-Language
,	O
Diesel	B-Language
,	O
Torque	B-Application
,	O
HeroEngine	O
,	O
and	O
BigWorld	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
handful	O
of	O
major	O
physics	O
engines	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
used	O
in	O
many	O
games	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
The	B-Application
Witcher	I-Application
3	I-Application
:	I-Application
Wild	I-Application
Hunt	I-Application
,	O
Warframe	B-Application
,	O
Killing	B-Application
Floor	I-Application
2	I-Application
,	O
Fallout	B-Application
4	I-Application
,	O
Batman	B-Application
:	I-Application
Arkham	I-Application
Knight	I-Application
,	O
Planetside	B-Protocol
2	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
Borderlands	B-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
these	O
games	O
use	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
to	O
process	O
the	O
physics	B-Algorithm
simulations	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Video	O
games	O
with	O
optional	O
support	O
for	O
hardware-accelerated	B-General_Concept
PhysX	B-Operating_System
often	O
include	O
additional	O
effects	O
such	O
as	O
tearable	O
cloth	O
,	O
dynamic	O
smoke	O
or	O
simulated	O
particle	O
debris	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
software	O
with	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
support	O
includes	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Unreal	B-Operating_System
Engine	I-Operating_System
game	O
development	O
software	O
by	O
Epic	O
Games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unreal	B-Operating_System
Engine	I-Operating_System
4.26	O
and	O
onwards	O
has	O
officially	O
deprecated	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unity	B-Application
by	O
Unity	B-Application
ApS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unity	B-Application
's	O
Data-Oriented	O
Technology	O
Stack	O
does	O
not	O
use	O
PhysX	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
