A scheme of developing frequency encoded tristate-optical logic operations using semiconductor optical amplifier

Abstract

The ever increasing demand for very fast and agile optical networks requires very fast execution of different optical and logical operations as well as large information handling capacities at the same time. In conventional binary logic based operations the information is represented by two distinct states only (0 and 1 state). It limits the large information handling capacity and speed of different arithmetic and optical logic operations. Tristate based logic operations can be accommodated with optics successfully in data processing, as this type of operation can enhance the speed of operation as well as increase the information handling capacity. Here in this communication the author proposes a new method to implement all-optical different logic gates with tristate logic using the frequency-encoding principle. The frequency encoding/decoding based optical communication has distinctly great advantages because the frequency is the fundamental character of an optical signal and it preserves its identity throughout the communication. The principle of the rotation of the state of polarization of a probe beam through semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), frequency routing property of an optical add/drop multiplexer (AD) and high frequency conversion property of reflecting semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOA) have been exploited here to implement the desired AND, OR, NAND and NOR logic operations with tristate logic.