
Programmable photonic latch speeds up data storage
Researchers have unveiled a programmable photonic latch that speeds up data storage and processing in optical systems.
The optical memory, a programmable photonic latch, is both fast and scalable. This provides a high-speed solution for temporary data storage in optical processing systems, utilizing silicon photonics to enhance performance.
The programmable photonic latch is inspired by the set-reset latch, a fundamental electronic memory device that stores a single bit of data. It works by switching between two states: set (1) and reset (0), based on input signals.
Enhancing Optical Systems with Fast Memory
“While optical communications and computing have seen significant progress over the past decades, data storage has been predominantly implemented using electronic memory,” said the study’s author Farshid Ashtiani from Nokia Bell Labs. “Having a fast optical memory that can be used with optical processing systems, as well as other optical systems used in communications or sensing, would make them more efficient in terms of energy and throughput.”
In a paper published in the Optica Publishing Group journal Optics Express, the researchers describe a proof-of-concept experiment in which they demonstrated the photonic latch using a programmable silicon photonic platform. The design optical set and reset, complementary outputs, scalability, and compatibility with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) for faster and more efficient optical processing systems.
“Large language models like ChatGPT rely on massive amounts of simple mathematical operations, such as multiplication and addition, performed iteratively to learn and generate answers,” said Ashtiani. “Our memory technology could store and retrieve data for such systems at high speeds, enabling much faster operations. While a commercial optical computer is still a distant goal, our high-speed optical memory technology is a step toward this future.”
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