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New Optical DSPs With Tera-ops Performance

GFD writes: "The EETimes has a story about a new class of hybrid digital/optical signal processors that are programmable and offer tera-ops performance potential for relatively low cost and power requirements. No fundamental breakthroughs but rather a very slick use of existing optical networking components to create a programmable optical processor that looks to the rest of the world like a single chip digital signal processor. Elegant and impressive if they can deliver."

74 comments

  1. Bone-A-Rama? by Pr0n+K1ng · · Score: -1

    This post made without Bone-A-Rama, through vnc, over my school's shitty ass net connection.

    Get it in ya!

    --

    Oh well, back to dowloading pr0n...

    Pr0n K1ng

    1. Re:Bone-A-Rama? by cyborg_monkey · · Score: -1

      First and second? I beleive a "w00t" is in order here!

      \/\/()()T!

    2. Re:Bone-A-Rama? by mackga · · Score: -1

      it also reqiures a nice link to some real pr0n! and walla! here it is!

      --

      "shop smart:shop s-mart" ash

    3. Re:Bone-A-Rama? by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Its tuesday, and you don't have your "Troll Tuesday" Journal up yet cyborg! What's the deal? Stop hitting the bottle for a minute and post!

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
    4. Re:Bone-A-Rama? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Please have a heart attack and die, mackga. Nobody likes you and everyone thinks you're just an annoying twat. So please fuck off and die. Thank you.

    5. Re:Bone-A-Rama? by LinuxIsForAssholes · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Please have a heart attack and die.

      Now, that is not a very nice thing to say to someone. Now if they do have a heart attack and die, won't you feel horrible.

      Nobody likes you and everyone thinks you're just an annoying twat. So please fuck off and die.

      This is also very mean spirited and hurtful. I think you should consider posting an apology.

      Thank you.

      Now this was very polite. I am so proud of you. However, this hardly takes away the sting of the rest of the message.

      I want you to post 100 times, the sentance:

      "I will not verbally abuse anyone else through a Slashdot posting again."

      Thank you.

    6. Re:Bone-A-Rama? by cyborg_monkey · · Score: -1

      I must be slipping....

  2. Who's your daddy? by Pr0n+K1ng · · Score: -1

    I am!

    Get it in ya!

    --

    Oh well, back to dowloading pr0n...

    Pr0n K1ng

    1. Re:Who's your daddy? by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      A giant, warm:

      Get it in ya!

      For the pr0n k1ng! Mad Propz!

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
    2. Re:Who's your daddy? by puhtime2go · · Score: -1

      Bravo!! BTW...

      puh!!!

      --
      Puh! +im3 2 g0!
  3. Sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    What's the success rate on things like this? How many of these 'optical' thingies actually make it out of the lab and into the mass market?

  4. 5 minutes! by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

    Over the course of 5 minutes, Pr0n K1ng made the first TWO posts! Again, where is everyone?!?

    --

    When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

    1. Re:5 minutes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      I think everyone is over in the War and Technology posting. There are over 480 comments last time I checked, and you know that everyone is reading all of them.

    2. Re:5 minutes! by squeegee-me · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      My bad, 468 not 486. Damn numerical dislexia.

      --
      Who wants Pork Chops?
    3. Re:5 minutes! by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Your bad, forgot to hit the "Post anonymous" button.

      Time to make squeegee-me a troll account!

      What better place than here???

      Make the Moderators use all their mod points!!

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
  5. Boy, am I on a roll by Pr0n+K1ng · · Score: -1

    Or what?

    I am the best!!!!11!!

    --

    Oh well, back to dowloading pr0n...

    Pr0n K1ng

    1. Re:Boy, am I on a roll by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Go Pr0n K1ng!!

      You r0x0r my h4z0r!

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
    2. Re:Boy, am I on a roll by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

      Mad propz! Congratz!

      --

      When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

  6. Cell Coverage That Works! by TheLOTR · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Maybe now I can use that cell phone thingie I ought to actually make phone calls! Oh wait, I forgot...I live in eastern Washington. Doh!

    1. Re:Cell Coverage That Works! by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

      Dude, you deal drugs? What the hell you doing living in eastern DC? Crack whore!

      --

      When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

  7. Wow by l00ny_bstrd · · Score: -1

    Is that the new goal? Have you just set a new standard, PK? Double-first post! I think I like it!!

    bye, now......

    --
    buy, now...
  8. Inegrated Messaging in future by saridder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This should help in advancing IP Telephony and Video. Be prepared for, not only, integrated messaging, but IP video conferencing telephones, and more interactive IVR systems, voice mail and OS's.

    --
    --- RFC 1149 Compliant.
    1. Re:Inegrated Messaging in future by British · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Just what we need, more telephone mazes

      "Press one to speak to an operator......"
      ....
      "Press 99E99 to file a complaint..."

  9. better motherboards by motherhead · · Score: 2, Redundant

    Very slick! I wonder how this bodes for future MB chipset designs.

    When you see what companies like nVidia are doing with chipsets like the nForce (i.e.: better then mediocre on-board graphics, very capable on-board audio, Ethernet etc, etc...) we may start seeing motherboards with surplus PCI slots.

    1. Re:better motherboards by Methuseus · · Score: 0

      I can see how this would be a boon to motherboard makers, but is this going to create a problem for AMD and Intel in the future of CPUs?

      --
      Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, though I'm not yet sure about the universe. - A Einstein
    2. Re:better motherboards by grmoc · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, I'd prefer motherboards with NO pci slots. Upgrading to a faster bus would be a good idea.
      I'm running up against the bus-bandwidth problem just about every day.

    3. Re:better motherboards by GigsVT · · Score: 2

      We already have standards to make it up to 4x faster, 64 bit PCI, and 66Mhz PCI. They are forward and backward compatible, and there are cards that use them today.

      So just start demanding that your motherboard maker start giving you 64 bit pci and you will be set.

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    4. Re:better motherboards by grmoc · · Score: 1

      Yes, but for some things even 4x isn't the speed increase you'd like to see. For example- video compositing. It just can't be effectively done on a PC due to the large amounts of bandwidth taken up by each stream. If you're doing professional video (SDI) and you'd like to deal with the bitstream itself (which would be really nice) it is 240M/s per stream. That is a lot of data. Then you have to consider that you're going in and out of the video capture card, and that you probably would like to fade between two streams, etc. 4x is nice, but an order of magnitude improvement would be more like it.

  10. TROLL ARTICLE! by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

    I claim this article in the name of trolls!!!

    This article is sooo dull that only trolls are posting. So we are taking it in as our own!

    --
    Quality straight pr0n goes here
    1. Re:TROLL ARTICLE! by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Please replace the title with "Jon Katz sUx0rs nazi censor Michael" and replace the article description with some trollific flame.

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
    2. Re:TROLL ARTICLE! by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

      I would like to fully endorse the annexation of this article for all Trolls.

      Under Article 7 of the Slashdot Troll Alliance Treaty of 1997, it clearly states that articles may be annexed if regular-user postings are of below-average quality or quantity.

      Article 7 is now invoked, we are now obligated to troll the everliving shit out of this article.

      Long live Trolling!

      --

      When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

    3. Re:TROLL ARTICLE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Please fuck off. Trolls do not own this article. You have been trolled, you have lost, have a nice day. Mother fucker. You trolls are just annoying and nobody likes you. Hell, you aren't even trolls, just annoying fuckwit crapflooders.

    4. Re:TROLL ARTICLE! by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Your absolutely right. I'm gonna stop now.

      What in the hell do you think your post is going to accomplish? Us just giving up?

      You are one giant idiot.

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
    5. Re:TROLL ARTICLE! by l00ny_bstrd · · Score: -1

      Please fuck off.

      Oh, OK, then. I was going to try to go a day without fucking off, but if it makes you happy, I'll indulge you.

      buy, now.........

      --
      buy, now...
    6. Re:TROLL ARTICLE! by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

      Now that's a troll if I've ever seen one!

      --

      When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

  11. Today's Tuesday? by Pr0n+K1ng · · Score: -1

    I think it is. You know what that means, dead fart warrior? I think you do!

    Go crazy brutha!

    --

    Oh well, back to dowloading pr0n...

    Pr0n K1ng

    1. Re:Today's Tuesday? by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Woohoo!

      We need to bring in cyborg_monkey, Kiss the Blade, the Lovers Arrival, Juan Eppstein, Vladimir. We need the whole troll community in on this one!

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
    2. Re:Today's Tuesday? by LinuxIsForAssholes · · Score: -1, Troll

      And you Linux guys wonder why people think you are just a bunch of punk kids.

    3. Re:Today's Tuesday? by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

      Shit bitch! I'm working on a Win 95 machine right now. When I get home, I'm going to work on my stable and secure Win 2K machine. Unlike those Linux kiddies, all I need to do is go to one place to get all my patching needs.

      Shut your mouths biznitches, Windows wouldn't be so popular if it weren't better! When was the last time your mom figured out how to program the microwave, let alone keep Linux running? Why do people like Windows? It's easy to use, and it's powerful enough for the average user. And now with XP, it's great for anyone, novice to professional.

      --

      When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

    4. Re:Today's Tuesday? by evil_spork · · Score: -1

      Didn't you forget bringing the sporks in? They are an important part of this, too!

      --
      guk is gay
    5. Re:Today's Tuesday? by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

      Ack! How could I forget.

      Please take this link as an apology!

      --
      Quality straight pr0n goes here
  12. Jon Katz sUx0rs nazi censor Michael by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

    Jon Katz sUx0rs nazi censor Michael

    --

    When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

  13. Excellent Work! by egg+troll · · Score: -1

    Now how about some lesbian bondage stories for us, pr0n k1ng?

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
    1. Re:Excellent Work! by trollercoaster · · Score: -1

      How's this?

      Rush Limbaugh has gone deaf.

      The nation's most popular radio talk-show host told listeners yesterday that a rapidly accelerating hearing loss has cost him almost all his hearing. He cannot hear in his left ear, and tests show he has lost 80 percent hearing in his right ear, he said. All this has happened since May 29, when Limbaugh -- perhaps the media's preeminent conservative standard-bearer -- first noticed a hearing loss.

      "If the pattern keeps up, I'll be totally deaf," he told his audience, which numbers as high as 20 million listeners each week. "Hearing aids, the most powerful made, mean nothing. If I take the hearing aid out of my right ear, I cannot hear a thing.

      --

      Slashdot, come for the goatse, stay for the trolls.

  14. New Optical Post With Stylistic Performance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    No fundamental breakthroughs but rather a very slick use of existing ascii character symbols to create a humorous optical comment that looks to the rest of the world like a single minded ubiquitous troll post.

  15. Optical FFT==Digital FFT ?? by sanpitch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not sure that an optical transform is the same as a digital transform, or that they can be used to do the same thing. Can their optical FFT/digital encoding produce the same bits during JPEG encoding as a digital FFT/digital encoding JPEG encoder? This is crucial for image/video compression algorithms.

    1. Re:Optical FFT==Digital FFT ?? by MarkusQ · · Score: 4, Informative
      I'm not sure that an optical transform is the same as a digital transform, or that they can be used to do the same thing. Can their optical FFT/digital encoding produce the same bits during JPEG encoding as a digital FFT/digital encoding JPEG encoder? This is crucial for image/video compression algorithms.

      They are the same, in theory (in practice the tolerance of your components limits you to only a few digits of accuracy). The basic (and very generic) relationship is:

      RW: Some real-world, physical process

      OB: An observational model of RW

      AN: An analytic model of OB

      DI: A digital implementation of AN

      AI: An analog implementation of AN, sometimes even based on RW.

      The wonder of science is that many RW have the same OB, and many OB have the same AN (in both cases allowing for some paramiterization). While all of these can "implement the same function" they will have very different time/space/energy/cost/etc profiles. Digital, in particular, givers you greater precision and flexibility, but at a rather high cost in speed, size, and energy usage.

      Up until faily recently (say, the last twenty to fifty years) the DI's were mostly done by hand. The only reason to do them was to get those extra digits, mostly for designers of the AIs (such as tube amplifiers and anti-aircraft guns) or to produce tables for use "in the field".

      -- MarkusQ

    2. Re:Optical FFT==Digital FFT ?? by PingXao · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, they are the same. I took a class many years ago and half the course was on audio and the other half was video. We went through the rigourous math etc. The most interesting potential application I remember was that a 2D FFT of an image could be used for pattern matching. You take the FFT of the image and correlate it with an FFT of the image you want to match. The de-correlated output result had highlighted "points" whose brightness corresponded to the "goodness" of the match.

      It was really very cool. One image was a bunch of letters on a page, arranged randomly. The thing we were matching was the letter 'h'. The brightest points in the result were indeed the letters 'h' on the page. Some 'n's also correlated to a degree and they also showed up in the result, although they were not as bright as the 'h's. Most fascinating - it didn't matter what rotation the individual letters had. An upside-down 'h' or a 90-degree rotated 'h' were equally recognized. If anything, this optical processing is probably purer than current digital methods which are only approximations.

  16. Yes, but... by l00ny_bstrd · · Score: -1

    Where's the Linux support here? Lenslet Labs, the creator of these devices, are known to be anti-Open Source, pro-Microsoft zealots. More info here.

    How can we achieve World Domination (tm) if this is allowed to become common place?

    --
    buy, now...
    1. Re:Yes, but... by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

      According to the article...

      "We don't believe that Linux will ever make it past the hobbyist tinkerer market. Our audience isn't the hacker type, it's the everyman! We do not and never intend to support Linux."

      What I don't understand is how this company can afford to throw away such a growing market share. Linux continues to grow in popularity, and will only continue onward from here. Woe to those shortsighted fools!

      --

      When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

    2. Re:Yes, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Linux is only growing in popularity among a select few, that being raging homosexuals who like to take it up the ass from Slashdot editors. If there ever was a niche operating system, it is Linux.

  17. Their tera-ops are a little different by mmacdona86 · · Score: 5, Informative

    since they are not actually processing the signal digitally. They are slickly converting it to a light signal, doing the heavy lifting with optical elements, which is essentially analog processing, and then converting it back to a digital signal. A real valuable short cut for those applications where you can translate what needs to be done to optical elements, but not anything like a general-purpose tera-ops digital computer.

    1. Re:Their tera-ops are a little different by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speaking of which, does anyone know of any progress on the whole all-optical digital computer front?

      I think there was a primitive one built a few years ago using nonlinear optical components, but I may have dreamt it....

  18. [summary] Fast FFTs, DCTs, etc. by grmoc · · Score: 5, Informative

    Basically, for those of you too impatient to read the article, it works by using VSCELs (lasers) through conventional optics, and into a high-speed collector. The lasers can work at up to 1 Ghz, and the processing is done (it seems) in analog by the optics. Acquisition of the date is performed by the collector, which operates at 10 Ghz.

    The theory is that optics can perform FFTs, DCTs, etc for you at the speed of light, and there are many applications that need these operatons done. Any other processing, correlation, etc would be done by conventional, low-performance DSPs.

    They also say that their current model works at 20 T ops/sec at 20 watts, and list what would be required of typical DSPs, etc down to ASICS.

    Seems promising, but it is still a long way away from a nice optical CPU.

  19. Haha! by egg+troll · · Score: -1
    The irony of this.

    "If the pattern keeps up, I'll be totally deaf," he told his audience, which numbers as high as 20 million listeners each week. "Hearing aids, the most powerful made, mean nothing. If I take the hearing aid out of my right ear, I cannot hear a thing.



    Haha! Rush Limbaugh has AIDS!

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
    1. Re:Haha! by trollercoaster · · Score: -1
      Rush Limbaugh has AIDS!

      Yeah, and the most powerful kind, to boot.

      --

      Slashdot, come for the goatse, stay for the trolls.

  20. Get a crack at osama... by Dead+Fart+Warrior · · Score: -1

    Just go here. Osama bin Laden toilet paper. Part of a troll's balanced crap.

    --
    Quality straight pr0n goes here
  21. bad economy by Quasar1999 · · Score: 1

    only if companies start to use 'dark fibers'... which I doubt will happen in the present state of the economy...

    --

    ---
    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
  22. +1 Insightful on the MQR standard by MarkusQ · · Score: 2
    I was about to post the same observation; instead (having no mod points) I'll try to draw attention to your post. (And likely get modded down as redundant or offtopic if I succeed. *sigh*)

    IMHO, the optical aspects are a red herring. The real speed advantage comes from going analog, which has always been (and always will be) much faster than digital. This gets rediscovered every few years, and then lost when the harsh limits on analog accuracy become more bothersome at the same time as the speed of digital is creeping upwards.

    -- MarkusQ

  23. A notice to all reading by Sunken+Kursk · · Score: -1

    This article is 0wn3d. Trolls are in control. Either troll or move along!

    This article posted here to allow for quicker notification.

    Carry on.

    --

    When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

  24. That sucks by egg+troll · · Score: -1

    Eastern Washington does kinda suck. I grew up in Oregon and once had this misfortune to go to Spokane ... not that Bend or Burns is a whole lot better, mind you. If I may repeat Horace Greeley: Go west, young man!

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
  25. Hmm... by l00ny_bstrd · · Score: -1

    I wonder if Falwell and Robertson consider this "divine retribution". :)

    I know I shouldn't gloat over the suffering of others, but I think I will anyway in this case.

    bye, now.....

    --
    buy, now...
  26. Encryption by Aurelfell · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    This is the kind of thing that might be able to break 128 bit encryption in months rather than years, so sell your RSA stock.

  27. VCSEL not VSCEL by Drakula · · Score: 1

    Actually, they are VCSELs (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers) and are made from semiconductors. The reason it matters is that the edge emitting variety, which were first developed, would be nearly impossible to mount effectively. That is the main advantage of the VCSEL, its ability to be bonded to PCBs or other substrates.

    Just a FYI.

    --
    "It's comin' back around again..." -RATM
    1. Re:VCSEL not VSCEL by grmoc · · Score: 1

      Ahh. thanks! =)

  28. Cool by ispq · · Score: 1

    I always lightens my heart to see technology march onward like this. Hella cool beans.

  29. Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    a beowulf cluster of these!

  30. Re:better motherboards - no PCI slots by haruharaharu · · Score: 1

    If we were to abandon PCI, what would you have us use? PCI is fast enough for mosth things, actually does a decent P&P, and is cheap.

    --
    Reboot macht Frei.
  31. same as 1980s Saxpy Computers by peter303 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Peter Guilfoyle had almost the same optical technology twenty years ago, albeit slower, but a couple orders of magnitude faster than the silicon of the day. The military had been using these for decades for analog image processing, but Guilfoyle integrated a digital protocol.

    During the early 1980s Guilfoyle attempted to commercialize this device, but failed. Engineers designed a computer around it, but realized it was more economic and reliable to implement it in silicon ASICs (custom gate arrays) than as an optical processor. The venture capitalists sided with the engineers and kicked Guilfoyle out. The company was named "Saxpy" after the name of fundamental matrix primitive used in array processors of era. A couple of prototypes were built, but never really sold.

    The 1980s were the golden age of the custom supercomputers and there were dozens built and died by the 1990s. Custom super computers could not keep up with the economics of commodity clusters (Beuwolfs). Custom machines took 3-5 years to develop a new generation, whereas commodity CPUs became 10-100 times faster & cheaper during the same time span. The only way for sustom computers to keep ahead of commodity computers is to be at least 10,000 times faster than commodity computers to avoid the catch-up problem.

    (I bought supers in the 1980s and Saxpy was on the vendors list.)

  32. Just Imagine! by PingXao · · Score: 3, Funny

    Must .... resist .... urge ..... AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these?

    Run/Duck/Hide

  33. Better patent it fast! by DickBreath · · Score: 2

    No fundamental breakthroughs but rather a very slick use of existing....

    No fundamental breakthroughs. Then, Quick! Better patent it!

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  34. Lenslet EnLight256 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of THESE!!!

  35. Does this tie into holographics at all? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I remember a friend of mine telling me about a siggraph demo in which you played a fighting game by punching, kicking, and so on. It used a holographic system to recognize your moves - Nothing more than a hologram - Which changed the signals sent to the computer running the game.

    I wonder if you might be able to do something clever with programmable optical computing that involved holograms as switches, more or less an optical FPGA.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Does this tie into holographics at all? by ahfoo · · Score: 1

      You'd like to hope so.
      From what you're describing it sounds like it would really benefit from some detailed geometry. Perhaps it just needs the right modeling environment.
      And, while we're at it, let's get some standard models for nanotech bioimplants.
      I think the average tradesman would agree that a oil derrick-like configuration would make a lot of sense. You know, something floating up top and a set of jointed tubes going in. Close hatch on overpressure and just fall off, no blood.
      At least at the University of Michigan, they say they've got nano light tubes for use within the blood stream pretty well licked.
      They use UV light filled tubes to zap bad guys, but I got a better idea and that's use nicotine brought in through a tube or set of tubes. Kill the bad guys and get a little buzz when it hits the liver. That must be God's will! This will fly in Kentucky.
      Just have a little refill cartridge on top. Perhaps it won't start in the States now that I consider it a bit more closely.
      Too hip. Must come from europe.