Path-number-balanced universal photonic network

A photonic processing system, comprising:

• an optical encoder configured to encode an input vector into a first plurality of optical signals;
• a photonic processor configured to perform a plurality of operations on the first plurality of optical signals and to output a second plurality of optical signals representing an output vector, the output vector representing a matrix multiplication of the input vector and a first matrix of size N×M;
• and
• an optical receiver configured to detect the second plurality of optical signals and output an electrical representation of the output vector, wherein the photonic processor comprises:
• an array of optical component locations;
• a plurality of active optical components arranged at first optical component locations of the array of optical component locations;
• and
• one or more passive optical components arranged at second optical component locations of the array of optical component locations, the second optical component locations being disposed at a substantially central location of the array.

A method of optically performing matrix-vector multiplication, the method comprising:

• receiving a digital representation of an input vector;
• encoding, using an optical encoder, the input vector into a first plurality of optical signals;
• performing, using a processor, a dilation of a first matrix of size N×M to determine a second matrix comprising a dimensionality greater than a larger of N and M, the second matrix comprising the first matrix in contiguous N×M elements of the second matrix;
• controlling a photonic processor to optically implement the contiguous N×M elements of the second matrix, the photonic processor comprising a plurality of active optical components and one or more passive optical components arranged in an array, the one or more passive optical components being disposed at a substantially central location of the array;
• propagating the first plurality of optical signals through the photonic processor;
• detecting a second plurality of optical signals received from the photonic processor;
• and
• determining an output vector based on the detected second plurality of optical signals, wherein the output vector represents a result of the matrix-vector multiplication.

A method of manufacturing a programmable optical network for representing a matrix of size N×M, the method comprising:

• forming a plurality of active optical components arranged at first optical component locations of an array of optical component locations;
• forming one or more passive optical components arranged at second optical component locations of the array of optical component locations, the second optical component locations being disposed at a substantially central location of the array;
• and
• forming a plurality of optical connections between active optical components of the plurality of active optical components and passive optical components of the one or more passive optical components.