JP2556487B2 - Optical branching method and device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an optical branching method and device necessary for performing parallel and high-speed computation using light.

[Prior art and its problems]

In order to process large-scale information, research on computers that execute high-speed calculations has been advanced, but the performance of a method using sequential processing using an electric circuit is already approaching its performance limit.
Therefore, research on parallel processing architectures such as supercomputers and array processors that simultaneously execute multiple operations is progressing. On the other hand, light has a spatial expanse and its physical properties do not interfere with each other, so that operations using light are excellent in parallelism.

However, until now, there was no method for branching data to any place at high speed, and it was impossible to process data at high speed using light.

[Object of the Invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical branching method and apparatus for changing the amplitude transmittance of light and branching data to an arbitrary place.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the optical branching method of the present invention, each light source arranged two-dimensionally is caused to emit light by an input signal, and on the surface where the slopes of a plurality of quadrangular pyramids intersect each other when each light source is a vertex and the photodetector is a bottom surface. , A pattern mask having a decomposition point of at least a square of all light sources is arranged, the amplitude transmittance of light emitted from each light source is changed, and the intensity of light transmitted through the pattern mask is determined by the number of all light sources. Is detected by a photodetector having at least the same number of decomposition points as the photoelectric conversion, and the input signal is branched in parallel and independently to an arbitrary decomposition point on the photodetector surface.

The optical branching device of the present invention comprises two-dimensionally arranged light sources, a plurality of light driving means for causing each of the light sources to emit light according to an input signal, and each light source as a vertex and a light detection means as a bottom surface. An optical modulator arranged on a surface where slopes of a plurality of quadrangular pyramids intersect with each other, the optical modulator having a decomposition point that is at least a square of the number of all the light sources for changing the amplitude transmittance of the light emitted from each of the light sources; It is characterized by comprising pattern control means for changing the amplitude transmission pattern of the light modulation means, and light detection means having at least the same decomposition point as the light source for receiving the light transmitted through the light modulation means.

[Action]

As shown in FIG. 2, the light source of the input surface 101 is caused to emit light in accordance with the two-dimensional binary input data, and the position of the opening of the pattern mask 102 is set so that the light is branched to a desired position of the output surface 103. To do.

FIG. 3 shows the input surface of FIG. 2 for 2 × 2 input data.
The structure of 101, the pattern mask 102, and the output surface 103 is shown. (A) shows the position of the light source on the input surface 101, (b) shows the structure of the pattern mask 102, and (c) shows the position of the photodetector on the output surface 103. The light sources 11, 12, 21, 22 on the input surface 101 are two-dimensionally arranged so as to be arranged in a 2 × 2 array at intersections of equally spaced grids. The pattern mask 102 has 16 decomposition points (patterns) aa, ab, ba, bb, ac, ad, bc, bd, ca that are the square of the number of light sources on the input surface 101 (four in this case). , cb, da, db, c
It has c, cd, dc, dd. The output surface 103 has the same number of decomposition points (detectors) AA, AB, BA, and BB as the number of light sources on the input surface 101.

Such an input surface 101, a pattern mask 102, and an output surface 103
Is arranged such that the distance between the input surface 101 and the pattern mask 102 is 1 and the distance between the pattern mask 102 and the output surface 103 is 2, there is always a pattern mask that uniquely determines the relationship between the input surface and the output surface. .

Table 1 shows the opening positions of the pattern mask that determine the relationship between the input and the output.

As can be seen from Table 1, the input and output relationships can be determined independently. For example, the light branching from the light source 11 to the detector BB is defined as the only optical path through the pattern bb. Therefore, 2 × 2 input data can be branched in parallel and independently to a 2 × 2 output destination.

The case where the input data is 2 × 2 has been described above.
For example, in the case of 4 × 4, as shown in FIG.
201 has 4 × 4 light sources, pattern mask 202 has 16 × 16 patterns, and output surface 203 has 4 × 4 detectors.
When the input surface 201, the pattern mask 202, and the output surface 203 are arranged so that the distance between the input surface 201 and the pattern mask 202 is 1, and the distance between the pattern mask 202 and the output surface 203 is 4.
The relationship between input and output can be determined independently. Therefore, 4 × 4 input data can be branched in parallel and independently to a 4 × 4 output destination.

Generally, if the input data is n × n, the pattern is n ²
× and n ^2, and 1 the distance between the input face and the pattern mask, the distance between the output surface and the pattern mask and n. In this way, n × n input data can be branched in parallel and independently to n × n output destinations.

When the input data is n × n, it is obvious that the present invention can be implemented if the number of patterns on the pattern mask is at least n ² × n ² and the number of detectors on the output surface is at least n × n. .

〔Example〕

 Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical branching device for realizing the optical branching method of the present invention. In this embodiment, the structures of the input surface, the pattern mask, and the output surface correspond to those shown in FIG. Therefore, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 are used for the corresponding elements.

This optical branching device is an array light source 1 composed of 2 × 2 divergent light sources, such as LEDs, which can be modulated at high speed, arranged at intersections of equally spaced gratings, and a voltage is applied to each divergent light source. A driving device 4 configured by a circuit, which controls input data for blinking a divergent light source, and an array light source 1.
Of the spatial light modulator 2 such as a liquid crystal TV having 4 × 4 decomposition points for transmitting the divergent light emitted from, and the opening of the spatial light modulator 2 so that the emitted light is branched to a desired output destination. A controller 5 for controlling the position, a detector array 3 such as 2 × 2 two-dimensional CCDs for receiving the light transmitted through the spatial light modulator 2, and a binary output of the detector array 3 for output A It is composed of the / D converter 6.

Next, the operation of the optical branching device will be described in the case where the light from the divergent light source 11 passes through the pattern bb of the spatial light modulator 2 and is branched to the detector BB. The diverging light source 11 of the array light source 1 is turned on by the driving device 4. The divergent light emitted from the divergent light source 11 passes through the spatial light modulator 2. At this time, the controller 5 controls the position of the aperture of the spatial light modulator 2 so that the emitted light is branched to the desired output destination BB of the detector array 3. That is, the pattern bb of the spatial light modulator 2 is used as an opening. As a result, the light transmittance of the pattern bb is changed to 1, and the light transmittance of the patterns aa, ab, and ba is changed to 0. The light transmitted through the pattern bb is received by the photodetector BB of the detector array 3, digitized by the A / D converter 6, and binarized.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above in detail, by using the optical branching method and the optical branching device of the present invention, data can be branched in parallel and at high speed to any place.

[Brief description of drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical branching device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing the principle of the optical branching method of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an input surface, a pattern mask, and an output surface. FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are views showing the optical path of the optical branching device. 1 …… Array light source 2 …… Spatial light modulator 3 …… Detector array 4 …… Drive device 5 …… Control device 6 …… A / D converter 101,201 …… Input surface 102,202 …… Pattern mask 103,203 …… Output surface

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A two-dimensionally arranged light source is caused to emit light by an input signal, and when the light sources are apexes and a photodetector is a bottom surface, a plurality of quadrangular pyramid slopes intersect with each other. A pattern mask having a decomposition point that is at least a square of the light source is arranged, the amplitude transmittance of the light emitted from each of the light sources is changed, and the intensity of the light transmitted through the pattern mask is at least equal to the number of all the light sources. An optical branching method comprising: receiving light by a photodetector having a decomposition point, performing photoelectric conversion, and branching the input signal in parallel and independently to an arbitrary decomposition point on the photodetector surface. 2. A plurality of light sources arranged two-dimensionally, a plurality of light driving means for making the respective light sources emit light according to an input signal, and a plurality of four light sources having the light sources as apexes and the light detecting means as a bottom surface. An optical modulator having a decomposition point which is arranged on a surface where the slopes of the pyramids intersect each other and which has a decomposition point that is at least a square of the number of all the light sources for changing the amplitude transmittance of the light emitted from each of the light sources; 2. An optical branching device comprising: a pattern control unit for changing the amplitude transmission pattern of 1. and a photodetector unit having at least the same decomposition point as the light source for receiving the light after passing through the light modulation unit.