Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based and multipath interferometry based optical ternary content addressable memory (TCAM)

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a search input, one or more search words;
• encoding, by the search input, a multi-wavelength input signal with the search word;
• converting, by the search input, each of the one or more search words onto one or more optical search signals;
• inputting, by the search input, the one or more optical search signals to an input waveguide of each of a plurality of TCAM entries of an optical search engine;
• sensing, by a plurality of photodetectors, an resultant optical signal on an output waveguide of a plurality of output waveguides of the optical search engine, each output waveguide associated with at least on TCAM entry of the optical search engine;
• and
• in response to detecting light on an output waveguide associated with at least on TCAM entry of the optical search engine, indicating, by the respective photodetector, a mismatch between the optical search signal received from the search input and a stored word in the respective TCAM entry,
• wherein each bit position of a TCAM entry and each bit position of a search word of the one or more search words are encoded as an amplitude, a wavelength, or a combination of both.

An optical ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) comprising:

• a search input configured to receive one or more search words from a search word source;
• an optical search engine optically coupled to the search input, the optical search engine configured to store a plurality of TCAM stored words;
• and
• a photodetector array comprising a plurality of photodetectors optically coupled to a plurality of output waveguides of the optical search engine, each photodetector of the photodetector array associated with an output waveguide of the plurality of output waveguides,
• wherein each search word is encoded using an amplitude inputted onto an input waveguide of a set of input waveguides associated with a bit position of the search word and the optical search engine is configured to coherently add two or more output result signals on each output waveguide to indicate at least one mismatched bit of the search word and the output waveguide of a respective TCAM stored word.