Optical device for processing an optical digital signal

An optical device to perform an asynchronous and parallel processing of a N bits serial stream of an optical digital signal comprising:

• a serial to parallel converter which converts said serial stream of N bits into a first parallel pattern of N bits carrying the same information as said serial stream of N bits;
• an optical component to expand said parallel pattern of N bits into a first two-dimensional (2-D) image made of N rows and M columns (N×M) of bits, each column being associated to said digital optical signal by a predetermined relationship, wherein bits corresponding to portions of the first 2-D image associated with a logic “0” of a second 2-D image, said second 2-D image being known and unchangeable, are stopped prior to production of the expanded 2-D image;
• and
• an output component to send to an output the expanded 2-D image.

A method to perform an asynchronous and parallel processing of a N bits serial stream of an optical digital signal comprising:

• converting said serial stream of N bits into a first parallel pattern of N bits carrying the same information as said serial stream of N bits;
• producing, from said parallel pattern of N bits, a first two-dimensional (2-D) image made of N rows and M columns (N×M) of bits, each column being associated to said digital optical signal by a predetermined relationship;
• and
• performing logic operations on the bits of said first 2-D image by carrying out an element-by element AND logic operation between said first 2-D image and a second suitable 2-D image N×M, thereby producing a third 2-D image N×M, and performing an XOR logic operation alone the M columns of said third 2-D image N×M, thereby producing a second parallel pattern of M bits;
• and
• sending to an output the results of said logic operations.

An optical device to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• serial to parallel converter that converts the N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• an image generator that creates a first 2-D image using the optical, parallel signal;
• a first logic operator that optically performs a first logic operation between the first 2-D image and a predetermined second 2-D image;
• and
• a second logic operator that electrically performs a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation.

An optical device to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• a serial to parallel converter that converts the N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• a first logic operator that optically performs a first logic operation on the optical parallel signal;
• and
• a second logic operator that electrically performs a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation;
• wherein the first logic operation includes an AND operation and the second logic operation includes an XOR operation.

A method to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• converting said N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• creating a first 2-D image using the optical, parallel signal;
• optically performing a first logic operation between the first 2-D image and a predetermined second 2-D image;
• and
• electrically performing a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation.

A method to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• converting said N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• optically performing a first logic operation on the optical, parallel signal;
• and
• electrically performing a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation;
• wherein the first logic operation includes an AND operation and the second logic operation includes an XOR operation.

An optical device to perform an asynchronous and parallel processing of a N bits serial stream of an optical digital signal comprising:

• serial to parallel converter means for converting the serial stream of N bits into a first parallel pattern having N bits carrying the same information as said serial stream of N bits;
• optical component means for producing, from said parallel pattern of N bits, a first two-dimensional (2-D) image made of N rows and M columns (N×M) predetermined relationship;
• and
• device means for performing logic operations on the bits of said first 2-D image including an optical portion to carry out an element-by-element AND logic operation between said first 2-D image and a second suitable 2-D image N×M, thereby producing a third 2-D image N×M, and a portion to perform an XOR logic operation along the M columns of said third 2-D image N×M, thereby producing a second parallel pattern having M bits;
• and
• output component means for sending to an output the results of said logic operations.

A method to perform an asynchronous and parallel processing of a N bits serial stream of an optical digital signal comprising:

• the step for converting said serial stream of N bits into a first parallel pattern of N bits carrying the same information as said serial stream of N bits;
• the step for producing, from said parallel pattern of N bits, each column being associated to said digital optical signal by a predetermined relationship;
• and
• the step for performing logic operations on the bits of said first 2-D by carrying out an element-by element AND logic operation between said first 2D image and a second suitable 2-D image N×M, thereby producing a third 2D image N×M, and performing an XOR logic operation along the M columns of said third 2-D image N×M, thereby producing a second parallel pattern of M bits;
• and
• the step for sending to an output the results of said logic operations.

An optical device to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• serial to parallel converter means for converting the N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• image generator means for converting a first 2-D image using the optical, parallel signal,
• first logic operator means for optically performing a first logic operation between the first 2-D image and a predetermined second 2-D image;
• and
• second logic operator means for electrically performing a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation.

An optical device to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• serial to parallel converter means for converting the N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• first logic operator means for optically performing a first logic operation on the optical, parallel signal;
• and
• second logic operator means for electrically performing a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation;
• wherein the first logic operation includes an AND operation and the second logic operation includes an XOR operation.

A method to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• the step for converting said N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• the step for creating a first 2-D image using the optical, parallel signal;
• the step for optically performing a first logic operation between the first 2-D image and a predetermined second 2-D image;
• and
• the step for electrically performing a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation.

A method to perform processing of an N bits serial signal comprising:

• the step for converting said N bits serial signal into an optical, parallel signal;
• the step for optically performing a first logic operation on the optical, parallel signal;
• and
• the step for electrically performing a second logic operation using results of the first logic operation;
• wherein the first logic operation includes an AND operation and the second logic operation includes an XOR operation.