Murdocca In this project a system is being built to translate a dataflow language into hardware and implement the hardware on an optical gate array. The system is comprised of three components: a compiler to translate a dataflow language such as ID into a dataflow graph; a method for converting dataflow graphs into hardware described by a hardware description language, along with a simulator; and a synthesis program for mapping HDL descriptions onto an optical gate array. The optical gate array consists of planes of electronic gates, with the planes interconnected by free-space optics. An advantage of this kind of gate array is quick reconfiguration of the optical interconnections which allows dataflow graphs to be changed quickly. This project is applicable to the development of advanced integrated engineering cells for manufacturing. Because of noise immunity and lack of electromagnetic interference, optical computation is well-suited to the factory floor. Reconfigurable optical computers of the type under development in this project may allow high-speed computation to be inserted into manufacturing processes in new ways.
