Abstract

Many workers have demonstrated the potential of optical techniques to process high bandwidth data at very high computation rates.¹,² Optical processors have been proposed for such diverse applications as pattern recognition, neural networks, switching, digital computing, filtering, transformations, and matrix algebra. Since most of these methods implement specialized processors, they must be integrated into presently available digital electronic systems to obtain the necessary degree of control and flexibility for practical applications. Few systems exist today that realize the potential of these optical techniques, perhaps because of the amount of engineering and development effort that separates a successful laboratory demonstration from a useful and practical system. The engineering effort is complicated by the high bandwidth of the optical system: the input and output requirements of most optical systems can easily swamp traditional digital systems. Other complicating factors are data transduction between the electronic and optical domains, and dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio requirements. In addition to the physical interface issues, the logical interface must be well-designed and easy to use. We present here some results of our effort to integrate a self-contained, "digital-in, digital-out" space-integrating one-dimensional matched filter system into a conventional digital processing system. This system can cross-correlate a 4000 point reference waveform with a 7000 point search waveform in about 100 µsec.

© 1991 Optical Society of America