Analog Programmable-Photonic Computation

TL;DR

This paper introduces Analog Programmable-Photonic Computation (APC), a new theory designed to leverage programmable integrated photonics for efficient real-time analog data processing, overcoming limitations of existing models.

Contribution

The paper develops a novel computation theory, APC, tailored for programmable integrated photonics, enabling new applications and surpassing current computational model limitations.

Findings

APC can be implemented in various technologies including electronics and acoustics.

APC overcomes fundamental limitations of existing models.

Potential to revolutionize real-time analog data processing.

Abstract

Digital electronics is a technological cornerstone in our modern society which has covered the increasing demand in computing power during the last decades thanks to a periodic doubling of transistor density and power efficiency in integrated circuits. Currently, such scaling laws are reaching their fundamental limits, leading to the emergence of a large gamut of applications that cannot be supported by digital electronics, specifically, those that involve real time analog multi-data processing, e.g., medical diagnostic imaging, robotic control and remote sensing, among others. In this scenario, an analog computing approach implemented in a real-time reconfigurable non-electronic hardware such as programmable integrated photonics (PIP) can be more efficient than digital electronics to perform these emerging applications. However, actual analog computing models such as quantum and neuromorphic computation were not conceived to extract the benefits of PIP technology (and integrated photonics in general). Here, we present the foundations of a new computation theory, termed Analog Programmable-Photonic Computation (APC), explicitly designed to unleash the full potential of PIP. Interestingly, APC enables overcoming basic theoretical and technological limitations of existing computational models, can be implemented in other technologies (e.g. in electronics, acoustics or using metamaterials) and, consequently, exhibits the potential to spark a ground-breaking impact on our information society.