Architectural implications of a digital optical processor

A general technique is described for implementing sequential logic circuits optically. In contrast with semiconductor integrated circuitry, optical logic systems allow very flexible interconnections between gates and between subsystems. Because of this, certain processing algorithms which do not map well onto semicon ductor architectures can be implemented on the optical structure. The algorithms and processor architectures which can be implemented on the optical system depend on the interconnetion technique. The authors describe three interconnetion methods and analyze their advantages and limitations.