An improved optical matrix-vector multiplication is performed by convolution process. The multiplicand binary numbers are represented by on/off states of light sources and the multiplier binary numbers are recorded on a spatial light modulator. Cylindrical optics is used as free space interconnection. The convolution coefficients are recorded on a CCD array. The output of the CCD array are added in a computer to yield the result of multiplication. The operation is completely digital and needs no analog to digital conversion. Because of parallel operation in two dimensions, the processing speed is greatly increased.
INTRODUCTIONThe desire for faster computation has placed demand of higher speed and computing power on silicon IC based computing machines. As an alternative to the silicon based technology, some of the unique features of optics, such as parallelism of data paths, non-interacting communication between parallel channels and representation of data in two or three dimensions, are being utilized in meeting the demands of high speed computing.