All-optical quaternary computing and information processing: a promising path

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

All-optical quaternary computing and information processing: a promising path Tanay Chattopadhyay & Jitendra Nath Roy

Received: 2 May 2012 / Accepted: 25 February 2013 # Optical Society of India 2013

Abstract Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology has revolutionized the electronics industry and established the 20th century as the computer age. But, an alternative technological solution to the problem of high speed computing is needed, and unless we gear our thoughts toward a totally different pathway, we will not be able to further improve our information processing performance for the future. The Multivalued logic (MVL) is positioned as a coming generation technology that can execute arithmetic functions faster and with less interconnect than binary logic. All-optical quaternary computing, based on radix-4 number system, may be the next generation computing system. In this paper we have tried to give an outline of quaternary logic based information processing schemes where future research can be explored. We have also shown the probable programmable logic device in quaternary optical computer.

T. Chattopadhyay Mechanical Operation (stage-II), Kolaghat Thermal power station, WBPDCL, Mecheda 721137, India e-mail: [email protected] J. N. Roy (*) Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Agartala 799055 Tripura, India e-mail: [email protected]

Keywords Multi-valued logic . Optical computing . Quaternary logic

Introduction Science and Technology is providing people all over the world with much better ways of communicating than ever before, and the winds of change have whipped up the desire to exchange more of everything from messages to movies. Multi-valued logic (MVL) has been the subject of much interest to increase the information content of the digital signals in a system to a higher value than that provided by binary system [1–8]. MVL is defined as a non-binary logic and involves the switching between more than two states [9–24]. Binary number is insufficient with respect to the demand of the coming generation that requires handling of enormous amounts of information. This issue need not be ignored since the major area of the VLSI chip is wasted in inter connection. Generally, high-radix-based number systems (with Radix>2) allow higher information storage density, less complexity, fewer system components, and fewer cascaded gates and operations. The main advantages of MV logic (radix R=3 is Ternary and radix R=4 is quaternary) systems and circuits are greater speed of arithmetic operations realization, greater density of memorized information, better usage of transmission paths, decreasing of interconnections complexity and interconnections area, decreasing of pin number of

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integrated circuits and printed boards, possibilities for easier testing [24–29]. In the field of data communication, the quaternary codes are preferred because four-valued (quaternary) logic signals easily interface with the binary world. They may be decoded directly into their two