Binary image algebra and optical cellular logic processor design

Abstract

Techniques for digital optical cellular image processing are presented. A binary image algebra (BIA), built from five elementary images and three fundamental operations, serves as its software and leads to a formal parallel language approach to the design of parallel binary image processing algorithms. Its applications and relationships with other computing theories demonstrate that BIA is a powerful systematic tool for formalizing and analyzing parallel algorithms. Digital optical cellular image processors (DOCIPs), based on cellular automata and cellular logic architectures, serve as its hardware and implement parallel binary image processing tasks efficiently. An algebraic structure provides a link between the algorithms of BIA and architectures of DOCIP. Optical computing suggests an efficient and high-speed implementation of the DOCIP architectures because of its inherent parallelism and 3D global free interconnection capabilities. Finally, the instruction set and the programming of the DOCIPs are illustrated.