Optical-logic-array processor using shadowgrams III Parallel neighborhood operations and an architecture of an optical digital-computing system

A novel method of optically implementing parallel neighborhood operations for two-dimensional discrete binary objects is presented. The operations are executed by the optical-array-logic processor (OLAP) based on techniques of imaging coding and optical correlation. The analogy between the mechanism of the OLAP and that of the array logic is efficiently utilized for the method. Any neighborhood operation is easily executed by the OLAP with the help of the concept of array logic. An architecture of an optical parallel digital-computing system is also presented. The system consists of parallel-processing units using the OLAP’s, which execute neighborhood operations for image data in parallel. This proposed system is expected to be a prototype of optical digital-computing systems.