Abstract

Optical processors can perform complex calculations in parallel at high speeds. They commonly suffer, however, from low accuracy, which currently hinders their widespread use. Various models for the noise in optical processors have been developed.¹ In addition, various techniques have been developed to improve their accuracy. One technique involves the use of error-detection and correction codes to improve the accuracy of optical linear algebra processors.² This allows some of the errors that occur during computation to be detected and possibly corrected. These codes, developed earlier for data transmission and fault tolerance in electronic processors, can thus be used to improve accuracy. Many of the required encoding and decoding operations can be performed optically. Computer simulations of optical matrix-vector multipliers employing various error codes will be presented. They indicate that a significant improvement in accuracy can be obtained when they are compared with processors not employing error codes.

© 1990 Optical Society of America