Frequency-domain ultrafast passive logic: NOT and XNOR gates

Abstract

Electronic Boolean logic gates, the foundation of current computation and digital information processing, are reaching final limits in processing power. The primary obstacle is energy consumption which becomes impractically large, > 0.1 fJ/bit per gate, for signal speeds just over several GHz. Unfortunately, current solutions offer either high-speed operation or low-energy consumption. We propose a design for Boolean logic that can achieve both simultaneously (high speed and low consumption), here demonstrated for NOT and XNOR gates. Our method works by passively modifying the phase relationships among the different frequencies of an input data signal to redistribute its energy into the desired logical output pattern. We experimentally demonstrate a passive NOT gate with an energy dissipation of ~1 fJ/bit at 640 Gb/s and use it as a building block for an XNOR gate. This approach is applicable to any system that can propagate coherent waves, such as electromagnetic, acoustic, plasmonic, mechanical, or quantum.

A light-operated dual-mode method for neuroblastoma diagnosis based on a Tb-MOF: from biometabolite detection to logic devices

“…As a kind of the crystalline porous materials with structural tunability and functional versatility, luminescent metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] have been considered as promising candidates for optical sensors. They not only offer the advantages of high sensitivity, fast response, simple operation and low cost as fluorescent sensors, [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] but can also be designed to perform Boolean logic operations [36][37][38] to transmit and process information, just like the human brain and electronics. Additionally, intelligent, decision-based molecular logic devices show great potential for life science applications.…”

All-fibre phase filters with 1-GHz resolution for high-speed passive optical logic processing

“…Towards efficient and high-speed signal processing, photonic schemes based on all-pass (or phase-only) linear spectral filtering have attracted considerable recent interest. These schemes offer a simple and passive solution to realize a multitude of important functionalities, such as ultrafast logic gates 16 , ultrahigh-speed spectroscopy 17 , quantum states manipulation 18 , 19 , microwave photonics operations 20 , neuromorphic computing 13 , pulse shaping and arbitrary waveform generation 21 , 22 , among many others. The key advantage of linear spectral phase-only optical filtering is that it enables implementation of the desired functionality at speeds commensurate with a photonic solution while preserving the full energy of the processed temporal signal.…”

“…However, all the current alternative techniques fail to provide the required performance, compared to electronic logic gates, simultaneously in three important aspects: energy consumption, footprint, and operation speed. Passive optical logic gate designs based on spectral phase filtering have been demonstrated that enable ultrafast operation with potential minimal power consumption 16 , but their previous implementations still necessitate of a bulky and active waveshaper.…”

Self-powered non-reciprocal phononic logic gates

“…As in electronic computing, the power consumption and embodied energy supply are also the challenges in mechanical computing 22 . Designing self-powered logic gates can expand its application scenarios, especially for self-powered environmental interaction.…”