# US 2026/0087318 A1 · Systems and methods for converson between digital and analog for photonic neural networks

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- Number: US 2026/0087318 A1
- Document ID: US20260087318A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 19/059,556
- Filed: 2025-02-21
- Published: 2026-03-26
- Earliest claimed: 2024-09-25
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Inventors: You-Cheng Lu; Stefan Rusu; Lan-Chou Cho; Ming Yang Jung; Tai-Chun Huang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20260087318A1

## CPC

- G06N 3/0464: Convolutional networks [CNN, ConvNet]
- G02F 1/212: {Mach-Zehnder type}
- G02F 1/225: in an optical waveguide structure
- G06N 3/067: using optical means
- G06N 3/0675: {using electro-optical, acousto-optical or opto-electronic means}
- G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS
- G02F: OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS

## Abstract

An electronic-photonic integrated circuit device for a convolutional neural network performs aspects of analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) or digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) in the photonic integrated circuit. The DAC may be performed using optical modulators. Each optical modulator receives a plurality of electrical input signals collectively representing an input value or kernel weight. The electrical input signals are applied to distinct modulator segments. The modulator segments combine to encode the digital data into a corresponding analog optical signal. The ADC may include splitting the optical output signals and providing distinct degrees of attenuation to each of the signal splits. The signals splits with various attenuation levels are converted into electrical output signals that are compared to a reference voltage to determine a digital encoding. The attenuation levels may be selected so that one reference voltage may be used for all the comparisons.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device, comprising:
a plurality of optical modulators, each configured to transduce electrical input signals to produce optical input signals, wherein one of the optical modulators comprises two or more modulator segments controlled by distinct electrical input signals, such that the corresponding optical input signal is determined based on a combination of the distinct electrical input signals;
an optical core configured to perform kernel-based operations on the optical input signals to generate optical output signals, wherein a first subset of the optical input signals corresponds to input data for the kernel-based operations, and a second subset of the optical input signals corresponds to kernel weights for the kernel-based operations; and
an optoelectronic output module comprising optoelectronic transducers and configured to convert the optical output signals into electrical output signals.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 1, wherein the two or more modulator segments comprise a first modulator segment and a second modulator segment spaced apart along a waveguide, and the first modulator segment and the second modulator segment have distinct modulation efficiencies.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 2, wherein the second modulator segment has a modulation efficiency at least two times that of the first modulator segment.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 2, wherein the second modulator segment has a modulation efficiency at least four times that of the first modulator segment.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 2, wherein the two or more optical modulators comprises a third modulator segment spaced apart along the waveguide from the first modulator segment and the second modulator segment, and the third modulator segment has a distinct modulation efficiency from each of the first modulator segment and the second modulator segment.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 2, wherein the first modulator segment and the second modulator segment are positioned along a single arm of a Mach-Zehnder modulator.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 6, further comprising a third modulator segment and a fourth modulator segment in a second arm of the Mach-Zehnder modulator.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 1, wherein the two or more modulator segments comprise a first modulator segment and a second modulator segment spaced apart along a waveguide, and the first modulator segment and the second modulator segment have distinct lengths.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 8, wherein the second modulator segment is a positive integer power of two times a length of the first modulator segment.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 9, wherein the one of the optical modulators further comprises a third modulator segment, and the third modulator segment is the positive integer power of two times the length of the second modulator segment.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 1, wherein the two or more modulator segments are positioned along a ring-shaped waveguide.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 1, wherein the two or more modulator segments are attenuators.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 1, wherein the two or more modulator segments comprise p-n or p-i-n junctions in a waveguide.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device of claim 1, wherein the optoelectronic output module is configured to provide three or more of the electrical output signals from one of the optical output signals.

### Claim 15

An electronic-photonic integrated circuit (EPIC) device, comprising:
an electrical integrated circuit (EIC) configured to generate electrical input signals and receive electrical output signals;
an optical source configured to provide light; and
a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), comprising:
a plurality of optical modulators, each configured to modulate a portion of the light to produce a corresponding optical input signal, wherein one of the optical modulators comprises two or more modulator segments controlled by distinct electrical input signals, such that the corresponding optical input signal is determined based on a combination of the distinct electrical input signals;
an optical core configured to perform kernel-based operations on the optical input signals to generate optical output signals, wherein a first subset of the optical input signals corresponds to input data for the kernel-based operations, and a second subset of the optical input signals corresponds to kernel weights for the kernel-based operations; and
an optoelectronic output module comprising optoelectronic transducers and configured to convert the optical output signals into the electrical output signals.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The electronic-photonic integrated circuit (EPIC) device of claim 15, wherein the electrical integrated circuit comprises a PAMx encoder that provides one of the electrical input signals, where x is a positive integer greater than or equal to 4.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The electronic-photonic integrated circuit (EPIC) device of claim 15, wherein the electrical integrated circuit comprises a field programmable gate array that provides the electrical input signals.

### Claim 18

A method, comprising:
generating electrical signals representing digital input data and kernel weights, wherein each input datum and each kernel weight is encoded across a plurality of the electrical signals;
transmitting the electrical signals representing the digital input data and the kernel weights to a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) via electrical interconnects;
modulating light based on the electrical signals, thereby generating optical input signals; and
using an optical core within the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) to perform a multiply and accumulate (MAC) or other kernel-based operation on a first portion of the optical input signals representing the input data with a second portion of the optical input signals representing the kernel weights, thereby generating optical output signals.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein modulating light based on the electrical signals comprises applying each of the electrical signals to a distinct modulator segment.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein generating the electrical signals representing digital input data and kernel weights comprises PAMx encoding, wherein x is four or greater.