Optical Processing & Communication

							Optical Processing & Optical
     Communications:
 Symbiosis or Convergence

       Essex Corporation

          Terry Turpin
         Chief Scientist
Optical Processor/Computer?

        … a machine
        that performs
   mathematical functions
    with light rather than
           electrons


 Functions most frequently used
   •Fourier Transform
      (demultiplexing/multiplexing)
   •Correlation (pattern detection)
   •Data distribution and replication
Optical Computing History Tidbits




  ……….parallellism ………………………speed and parallelism……
   Optical        Early
 processors     Synthetic    Optical    •Search Receivers
were used to    Aperture    Spectrum      •Triple Product
  break the      Radar      Analyzers       Processors
enigma code      (SAR)      -Itek ATD    •Tempest Optical
                  (Leigh,
during World     Cutrona)               Correlators (NSA)
    War II

  1940’s         1970’s     1968-1978        1975-1983
Specific Optical Processors
   Name           Date of Application       Units in Use
   IFT            1975-1980 Signal Search   50
   TOC            1985                      50
   Netzer         1980 Spread spectrum      4
   Wanzer         1985 Cryptanalytic        2
   Opaline        1981 Cryptanalytic        1
   Washland       1984 Spread spectrum      2
   Flemming       1966 Cryptanalytic        1
   EW channelizer 1980 on                   ?
   Gingerbread    1981 Signal Search        4 roofman
   ImSyn          1990 Image Synthesis      6
   Labyrinth      1988 Spread Spectrum      2
   SWAS           1998 Astronomy            1/4
   DOC            1985-1995                 3
   AOS            1990-today                ?
 History vs. Mythology
       History
                                      Optical
•Optical Computing is 50 years
old                                  Computers
•Mostly US Government Projects
•Very Expensive                      Mythology
•Component Technology –
CLASSSIFIED                      •Too expensive for the
•“Niche Technology”              Real World
   •Wideband signal analysis     •Still CLASSIFIED
   •cryptography                 •Built only by PhD’s
                                 •Rarity in the Real
                                 World

REALITY TODAY: Optical Processors are
successful & gaining widespread use
   Evolution of Communications
   and Processing

            •Starting with simple carrier Tx-Rx
Bandwidth
            function
            •Carriers Groomed for greater capacity
  1 Tbps    •“Grooming” becomes “Processing” as
            complexity grows

  1 Gbps



  1Mbps



                             Digital                          Optical
  1 bps
                             Carrier                          Carrier
                           Processing                       Processing


1840                                                 1970     2000
Why go to Optical Processors?

                         Advantages
• Speed
• Reduced size and power consumption
• OEO Overhead & Cost are Excessive
     (optical - electrical - optical)

• Natural Fit:
     Optical Processing for Optical Communications
• Typical improvement is a factor of 50000
    Cutting Edge Elements
           Materials
•Photonic Crystals
•Non-Linear Materials
                                         New Components
•Silicon Germanium
                                   •VCELS
•III-V & II-VI Materials Systems   •Optical Fiber
                                   •Optical Amplifiers
                                      •SOA
                                      •EDFA
                                   •Optical Correlators
                                   •Optical Signal Processors
        Technology
     •Photon Echo
     •Optical Tap Delay
     •Solotons
  Next Generation Tools

Commercial Applications

•Optical Switching
•Optical Routing
                            •More Bandwidth Capacity
•Optical Packet Switching   •Faster
•Lambda Switching           •Simpler
                            •Cheaper
•Optical Spread Spectrum    •Lower Power Consumption
•Free Space Beam
Tracking
Future Optical
Communications


• Integrated optical processing will…
  – Improve Performance
  – Provide security
  – Provide switching and routing functions
• Networks will tend to be more transparent
• Networks will operate at lower power
  levels approaching the quantum limit
  Ready for Prime Time?
• Government continues to invest in
  compact supercomputing capability
• Many commercial applications using
  supercomputing power at commercial
  prices
• Telecom revolution has lowered the cost
  and improved the availability of optical
  components
• Telecom and computing industries are
  confronting wideband signal processing
  requirements
  • Encryption
  • Channelization
  • Correlation
Where’s the Market?
• Bandwidth demand
  continues to at least
  double each year
• Vendor inventories
  from the “overbuild”
  are gone
• Network is “at
  capacity” at many
  exchange points
• Sales are happening
• Metro and Access
  are building to
  increase sales and      Source: IDC
  meet demand
Commercial Break..
                                                       Hyperfine WDM product family
          Multi-user detection       Communications        •Reconfigurable ADM
          for spread spectrum          & Networks          •All optical equalizer
                 comms                                     •All optical privacy system
                                                           •All optical CDMA
                                                           •Wavelength router


Holographic                           Extreme                              Hypothesis
    3-D
 Synthetic    3D Images              Processing                Radar        tester for
                                                                             tracking
                                                              Analysis
 Aperture
   Radar                             Solutions…                               targets




                                                               1 GHz bandwidth
                                                                range Doppler
                                            IT                 radar processor
                                      Infrastructure
            Transformational
       Architectures and Build-Out

                 … Through Light and Innovation
turpin@essexcorp.com