Multifunctional Optical Processor Based On Symbolic Substitution

We propose an optical multifunctional processor that can perform logic, numeric, pattern recognition, morphological, and inference operations. The ability to perform such diverse functions on one optical processor architecture is unique. The processor uses the technique of symbolic substitution and is based on an optical correlator architecture. Several inputs can be operated on in parallel, and different functions can be performed at one time, making it a multiple-instruction multiple-data processor.