Optical Computing?

[Arthur Hanson]

Any thoughts on this technology and where it may go appreciated. Thanks

But while modern electronic computers are far faster than even those mathematical geniuses were with paper, pencils, and slide rules, there’s another type of computing that leaves it eating space dust – optical computing, as fast as the speed of light because instead of using electrons, it uses light itself.

The need for faster computing isn’t just to satisfy impatient consumers screaming to stream movies while video-chatting, VR gaming, and 3D printing. It’s to handle the Big-Bang-level of data expansion of the modern digital world. The humble graphics processing units (GPUs) in standard computers simply can’t scale or work quickly enough to meet such massive overflow. Even worse, as The Smithsonian Magazine and Sustainability Magazine report, AI data centers filled with GPUs are consuming massive amounts of electricity (mostly from nonrenewable sources) and water (often in arid regions).

Ultra-fast single-shot tensor computing trades 1s and 0s for light waves

Want to call someone a quick-thinker? The easiest cliché for doing so is calling her a computer – in fact, “computers” was the literal job title of the “Hidden Figures” mathematicians who drove the success of early NASA.

newatlas.com

 

[Fred Chen]

Ultra-fast single-shot tensor computing trades 1s and 0s for light waves

Want to call someone a quick-thinker? The easiest cliché for doing so is calling her a computer – in fact, “computers” was the literal job title of the “Hidden Figures” mathematicians who drove the success of early NASA.

newatlas.com

Any thoughts on this technology and where it may go appreciated. Thanks

I wonder if this and quantum computing will serve some interesting but important niches, while not displacing classical electronic computing.

 

[semiman]

I think it's similar to what analog engineers are doing. Since neural networks do not really need 100% accurate arithmetics, some engineers are trying to implement 'less-accurate but very dense' computational units. So it's more like neuromorphic semiconductor(uses resistance or voltage to replace ALUs) implemented using light(interferences, superposition...etc).

 

[swka]

there have been increased energy in photonics over the years. data communication is what's getting most attention. OCS by google proves they can be volume produced with long term reliability outside moving data faster. Optical computing with combinatory logic have a few startups already, and there are emerging research on optical sequential elements, eventually leading to optical sram. this year's IEDM is a good example, with dedicated session on photonics