Optoelectronic computing systems

A system, comprising:

• a first unit configured to generate a plurality of modulator control signals;
• a processor unit comprising:
• a light source configured to provide a plurality of light outputs;
• a plurality of optical modulators coupled to the light source and the first unit, the plurality of optical modulators being configured to generate an optical input vector by modulating the plurality of light outputs provided by the light source based on the plurality of modulator control signals, the optical input vector comprising a plurality of optical signals;
• and
• a matrix multiplication unit coupled to the plurality of optical modulators and the first unit, the matrix multiplication unit being configured to transform the optical input vector into an analog output vector based on a plurality of weight control signals;
• a second unit coupled to the matrix multiplication unit and configured to convert the analog output vector into a digitized output vector;
• and
• a controller comprising integrated circuitry configured to perform operations comprising:
• receiving an artificial neural network computation request comprising an input dataset that comprises a first digital input vector;
• receiving a first plurality of neural network weights;
• and
• generating, through the first unit, a first plurality of modulator control signals based on the first digital input vector and a first plurality of weight control signals based on the first plurality of neural network weights;
• wherein the matrix multiplication unit comprises:
• a plurality of copying modules, wherein each of the copying modules corresponds to a subset of one or more optical signals of the optical input vector and is configured to split the subset of one or more optical signals into two or more copies of the optical signals;
• a plurality of multiplication modules, wherein each of the multiplication modules corresponds to a subset of one or more optical signals configured to multiply the one or more optical signals of the subset by one or more matrix element values using optical amplitude modulation;
• and
• one or more summation modules, wherein each summation module is configured to produce an electrical signal that represents a sum of the results of two or more of the multiplication modules;
• wherein the first unit comprises a digital to analog converter (DAC) unit, the second unit comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) unit, the matrix multiplication unit comprises:
• an optical matrix multiplication unit coupled to the plurality of optical modulators and the DAC unit, the optical matrix multiplication unit being configured to transform the optical input vector into an optical output vector based on the plurality of weight control signals;
• a photodetection unit coupled to the optical matrix multiplication unit and configured to generate a plurality of output voltages corresponding to the optical output vector,
• an analog memory unit arranged between the DAC unit and the plurality of optical modulators, the analog memory unit being configured to store analog voltages and to output the stored analog voltages;
• and
• an analog nonlinearity unit arranged between the photodetection unit and the ADC unit, the analog nonlinearity unit being configured to receive the plurality of output voltages from the photodetection unit, apply a nonlinear transfer function, and output a plurality of transformed output voltages;
• wherein the analog memory unit is configured to receive and store the plurality of transformed output voltages of the analog nonlinearity unit, and to output the stored plurality of transformed output voltages to the plurality of optical modulators, and
• wherein the operations further comprise:
• based on generating the first plurality of modulator control signals and the first plurality of weight control signals, storing, in the analog memory unit, the plurality of transformed output voltages of the analog nonlinearity unit;
• outputting, through the analog memory unit, the stored transformed output voltages;
• obtaining, from the ADC unit, a second plurality of transformed digitized output voltages, the second plurality of transformed digitized output voltages forming a second transformed digital output vector;
• and
• storing, in the memory unit, the second transformed digital output vector.

A system, comprising:

• a first unit configured to generate a plurality of modulator control signals;
• a processor unit comprising:
• a light source configured to provide a plurality of light outputs;
• a plurality of optical modulators coupled to the light source and the first unit, the plurality of optical modulators being configured to generate an optical input vector by modulating the plurality of light outputs provided by the light source based on the plurality of modulator control signals, the optical input vector comprising a plurality of optical signals;
• and
• a matrix multiplication unit coupled to the plurality of optical modulators and the first unit, the matrix multiplication unit being configured to transform the optical input vector into an analog output vector based on a plurality of weight control signals;
• a second unit coupled to the matrix multiplication unit and configured to convert the analog output vector into a digitized output vector;
• and
• a controller comprising integrated circuitry configured to perform operations comprising:
• receiving an artificial neural network computation request comprising an input dataset that comprises a first digital input vector;
• receiving a first plurality of neural network weights;
• and
• generating, through the first unit, a first plurality of modulator control signals based on the first digital input vector and a first plurality of weight control signals based on the first plurality of neural network weights;
• wherein the matrix multiplication unit comprises:
• a plurality of copying modules, wherein each of the copying modules corresponds to a subset of one or more optical signals of the optical input vector and is configured to split the subset of one or more optical signals into two or more copies of the optical signals;
• a plurality of multiplication modules, wherein each of the multiplication modules corresponds to a subset of one or more optical signals configured to multiply the one or more optical signals of the subset by one or more matrix element values using optical amplitude modulation;
• and
• one or more summation modules, wherein each summation module is configured to produce an electrical signal that represents a sum of the results of two or more of the multiplication modules;
• wherein the one or more summation modules include at least one summation module comprising:
• two or more input conductors that each carries an electrical signal in the form of an input current whose amplitude represents a respective result of a respective one of the multiplication modules, and
• at least one output conductor that carries the electrical signal that represents the sum of the respective results in the form of an output current that is proportional to the sum of the input currents;
• wherein at least a first input current of the input currents is provided in the form of at least one photocurrent generated by at least one photodetector that receives an optical signal generated by a first multiplication module of the multiplication modules;
• wherein the first input current is provided in the form of a difference between two photocurrents generated by different respective photodetectors that receive different respective optical signals both generated by the first multiplication module.

A system, comprising:

• a first unit configured to generate a plurality of modulator control signals;
• a processor unit comprising:
• a light source configured to provide a plurality of light outputs;
• a plurality of optical modulators coupled to the light source and the first unit, the plurality of optical modulators being configured to generate an optical input vector by modulating the plurality of light outputs provided by the light source based on the plurality of modulator control signals, the optical input vector comprising a plurality of optical signals;
• and
• a matrix multiplication unit coupled to the plurality of optical modulators and the first unit, the matrix multiplication unit being configured to transform the optical input vector into an analog output vector based on a plurality of weight control signals;
• a second unit coupled to the matrix multiplication unit and configured to convert the analog output vector into a digitized output vector;
• and
• a controller comprising integrated circuitry configured to perform operations comprising:
• receiving an artificial neural network computation request comprising an input dataset that comprises a first digital input vector;
• receiving a first plurality of neural network weights;
• and
• generating, through the first unit, a first plurality of modulator control signals based on the first digital input vector and a first plurality of weight control signals based on the first plurality of neural network weights;
• wherein the matrix multiplication unit comprises:
• a plurality of copying modules, wherein each of the copying modules corresponds to a subset of one or more optical signals of the optical input vector and is configured to split the subset of one or more optical signals into two or more copies of the optical signals;
• a plurality of multiplication modules, wherein each of the multiplication modules corresponds to a subset of one or more optical signals configured to multiply the one or more optical signals of the subset by one or more matrix element values using optical amplitude modulation;
• and
• one or more summation modules, wherein each summation module is configured to produce an electrical signal that represents a sum of the results of two or more of the multiplication modules;
• wherein one of the copies of a first subset of one or more optical signals includes more than one of the optical signals, and fewer than all of the optical signals, on which multiple input values are encoded;
• wherein the multiplication module corresponding to the copy of the first subset is configured to multiply the encoded input values by different respective matrix element values;
• and
• wherein different multiplication modules corresponding to different respective copies of the first subset of one or more optical signals are contained by different devices that are in optical communication to transmit one of the copies of the first subset of one or more optical signals between the different devices.