Complex optical computer designs must implicitly or explicitly allow for
power budgeting, to compensate for cross talk and loss in both devices and
interconnections. We develop algorithms for calculating the system cross
talk and power loss in optical systems, using a graph-theoretic model.
Devices are modeled as directed graphs with nodes representing inputs and
outputs, and edges are weighted with the power relationships between nodes.
Systems are modeled by interconnecting the individual device graphs in a
manner that reflects the connectivity of the system. A system's power
budget is efficiently computed by a depth-first search of its graph. The
algorithms have been incorporated into an optical computer-aided design
system that is now being used to design a bit-serial optical computer
containing hundreds of components.
Key words: Optical computing, optical systems, optical communications,
power loss, cross talk, graphs.
© Optical Society of America, 1992.