Abstract

Existing optical computer architectures are limited by the concepts borrowed from the well established field of electronic computer architectures. Meanwhile, optical data such as images, wavefronts and modes open a new dimension in representation of flexible and complex data. Similarly, optical operations such as matched filtering, associative recall, parallel search and optimization also permit a significant departure from traditional instructions and open new opportunities. In other words, optical data structures and operations open up new possibilities in optical computer architectures. Exploration of these new concepts is important in order to design and develop future-generation optical computers. In this paper, we describe the design principles of a Software Environment which allows the evaluation of various optical processing methodologies. The environment was developed to support data structures such as wavefront (WF) processing and operations over the WFs such as recording and read out, phase conjugation, etc. The environment allows objects to be specified and integrated into a general configuration to process WFs. Examples of possible objects are: WF generator, apertures, spatial light modulators (SLM), lens, beam splitters, holographic writing and readout, filters, feedback, phase conjugation, detection, etc. An example of a configuration is a resonator with memory and internal feedback. The software system is designed to operate within an interactive event-driven graphics window environment. By clicking on a feature in the output plane, a user can trigger back propagation of a WF. Implementation details will be represented in a separate paper.

© 1993 Optical Society of America