Abstract

Digital optical computing offers several unique features not available from other parallel computing systems. They include massive interconnections (global or neighborhood), 2-D input and output formats, large main memory, and more degrees of freedom (e.g., polarizations in addition to intensity). The ease of interconnection and more degrees of freedom help to simplify hardware system design, whereas the 2-D input/output formats and large main memory help to simplify software development. Two classes of parallel algorithm for numerical transforms and solutions to partial differential equations are described. When they are implemented on digital optical computers, various unique features of digital optical computing are illustrated.

© 1985 Optical Society of America