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US 5,291,324 AGranted
Comparison apparatus with freespace optical interconnections between optoelectronic integrated circuits
AssigneeAT&T Bell Laboratories
InventorStephen J. Hinterlong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An exemplary packet processing apparatus where a large number of comparisons can be made concurrently in bit-parallel fashion by partitioning the comparison functionality to two optoelectronic integrated circuits, and interconnecting the two circuits using free space optics. Illustratively, different embodiments are used to perform one-to-many or many-to-one comparisons by developing multiple copies of one value for concurrent comparison with many possible values. The invention is more generally applicable to other comparison applications where one-to-many or many-to-one comparisons are made.
Claims57
Packet processing apparatus comprising
- a first optoelectronic integrated circuit comprising first means for storing information and means for transmitting an array of optical beams representing said information stored by said first storing means,
- free space optical means for imaging said array of optical beams onto a second opto-electronic integrated circuit,
- said second circuit comprising second means for storing information and means for comparing the information represented by said array of optical beams received via said free space optical means, with said information stored by said second storing means,
- means responsive to at least one input packet for transmitting a header of said at least one input packet to one of said first and second storing means for storage therein,
- where the other of said first and said second storing means stores at least one possible value,
- wherein said second circuit further comprises means for generating a signal in response to a predefined comparison by said comparing means of said stored header with said stored possible value.
3 more elements
Comparison apparatus comprising
- a first optoelectronic integrated circuit comprising first means for storing information and means for transmitting an array of optical beams representing said information stored by said first storing means,
- free space optical means for imaging said array of optical beams onto a second opto-electronic integrated circuit,
- said second circuit comprising second means for storing information and means for comparing the information represented by said array of optical beams received via said free space optical means, with said information stored by said second storing means,
- means for transmitting at least one input bit string to said first storing means for storage therein,
- where said second storing means stores a plurality of reference bit strings,
- wherein said second circuit further comprises means for generating a signal in response to a predefined comparison by said comparing means of said at least one stored input bit string with at least one of said stored plurality of reference bit strings,
- where said transmitted array represents multiple copies of said stored input bit string, and said comparing means concurrently compares each of said multiple copies with a different one of said stored plurality of reference bit strings.
4 more elements
Comparison apparatus comprising
- a first optoelectronic circuit comprising first means for storing information and means for transmitting an array of optical beams representing said information stored by said first storing means,
- free space optical means for imaging said array of optical beams onto a second opto-electronic circuit,
- said second circuit comprising second means for storing information and means for comparing the information represented by said array of optical beams received via said free space optical means, with said information stored by said second storing means,
- means for transmitting at least one input bit string to said second storing means for storage therein,
- where said first storing means stores a plurality of reference bit strings,
- wherein said second circuit further comprises means for generating a signal in response to a predefined comparison by said comparing means of said stored at least one input bit string with at least one of said stored plurality of reference bit strings,
- where said transmitted array represents said stored plurality of reference bit strings, said second storing means stores multiple copies of said at least one input bit string, and said comparing means concurrently compares each of said multiple copies with a different one of said plurality of stored reference bit strings.
4 more elements
Comparison apparatus comprising
- a first optoelectronic integrated circuit comprising first means for storing information and means for transmitting an array of optical beams representing said information stored by said first storing means,
- free space optical means for imaging said array of optical beams onto a second opto-electronic integrated circuit,
- said second circuit comprising second means for storing information and means for comparing the information represented by said array of optical beams received via said free space optical means, with said information stored by said second storing means,
- means for transmitting a plurality of input bit strings to said first storing means for storage therein,
- where said second storing means stores at least one reference bit string,
- wherein said second circuit further comprises means for generating a signal in response to a predefined comparison by said comparing means of at least one of said stored plurality of input bit strings with said stored at least one reference bit string,
- where said transmitted array represents said stored plurality of input bit strings, where said second storing means stores multiple copies of said at least one reference bit string, and said comparing means concurrently compares each of said stored plurality of input bit strings with a different one of said multiple copies.
4 more elements
Comparison apparatus comprising
- a first optoelectronic integrated circuit comprising first means for storing information and means for transmitting an array of optical beams representing said information stored by said first storing means,
- free space optical means for imaging said array of optical beams onto a second opto-electronic integrated circuit,
- said second circuit comprising second means for storing information and means for comparing the information represented by said array of optical beams received via said free space optical means, with said information stored by said second storing means,
- means for transmitting at least one reference bit string to said first storing means for storage therein,
- where said second storing means stores a plurality of input bit strings,
- wherein said second circuit further comprises means for generating a signal in response to a predefined comparison by said comparing means of said stored at least one reference bit string with at least one of said stored plurality of input bit strings,
- where said transmitted array represents multiple copies of said stored at least one reference bit string, and said comparing means concurrently compares each of said multiple copies with a different one of said stored plurality of input bit strings.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.