| 摘要 |
An optical signal processor (10) and a method of processing optical data are described. The processor (10) has at least one optical coupling unit (12) each unit (12) having two optical couplers (12A, 12B) which are connected so that the principal channels (14) are connected in series with a time delay of a predetermined value in the principal channel (14) between adjacent couplers (12A, 12B). The optical coupling units (12) are formed into stages and the number of optical coupling units (12) or stages determines further coding of each bit of the input optical signal or code sequence. In other words, if the input code is M-bits long then M optical coupler stages are required to process this code and determine whether the code matches with the preset code sequence. Stages can be coupled together to process a sequence of optical pulses corresponding in number to the number of optical coupling stages in the system and the outputs of each stage are coupled via optical switches (18) to an optical summing device (24) to simultaneously process the coded data and determine whether the processing has resulted in matching or mismatching of data. |
