Abstract

We have developed a programmable parallel logic unit with a dynamic interconnection ability based on the truth table architecture. This enable us to design very flexible digital optical computing systems. An element cell has two input ports and three output ports, as shown in Fig. 1. Element cells are connected optically each other, and the connection network is changeable by selecting three output ports. The element cell is able to select which output ports are active or not. Because of this feature of the element cell the interconnection network is dynamically configured. It is convenient to use three-state logic or ternary logic to assign one or two of three ports to the output output port. Ternary logic is also employed to perform a modified sign digit (MSD) operation, which enables us to make a full parallel algorithm of numerical calculation.

© 1989 Optical Society of America