OPTICAL THRESHOLD GATES AND LOGICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING (COMPUTING, DIGITAL, IMAGE)

The application of optical threshold gates (OTG's) in both deterministic and nondeterministic logical signal processing is considered. Extensions of binary threshold logic to more powerful multiple-valued, analog, and polynomial threshold logics are discussed along with appropriate threshold gate/network synthesis techniques. The implementation of digital and analog linear/nonlinear threshold gates in bulk and integrated optical circuits is presented. The particular advantages of optical threshold gates with respect to electronic gates are discussed. Applications of optical threshold gates in deterministic binary addition and parallel digital picture processing and nondeterministic pattern recognition are considered. The sensitivity of optical threshold gates to physical gate parameter variations is analyzed for both deterministic and nondeterministic logics.