Reduced-knot NURBS representations of rational \(G^ 1\) composite Bézier curves (Q1331427)

It is known that a rational \(G^ 1\) composite Bézier curve of degree \(n\) can be represented as a nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curve with knots of multiplicity \(n\). An algorithm is presented that reduces the degree of multiplicity of some knots to \(n-1\). This reduced-knot NURBS representation is based on a reparameterization of the Bézier curve segments. There is a tradeoff in the number of knots reduced and the quality of reparametrizations. The paper contains several examples and hints for application.