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1. Real-time photonic blind interference cancellation

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43982-w  

   Lederman, Joshua C.; Zhang, Weipeng; de Lima, Thomas Ferreira; Blow, Eric C.; Bilodeau, Simon; Shastri, Bhavin J.; Prucnal, Paul R. (December 2023, Nature Communications)

   Abstract mmWave devices can broadcast multiple spatially-separated data streams simultaneously in order to increase data transfer rates. Data transfer can, however, be compromised by interference. Photonic blind interference cancellation systems offer a power-efficient means of mitigating interference, but previous demonstrations of such systems have been limited by high latencies and the need for regular calibration. Here, we demonstrate real-time photonic blind interference cancellation using an FPGA-photonic system executing a zero-calibration control algorithm. Our system offers a greater than 200-fold reduction in latency compared to previous work, enabling sub-second cancellation weight identification. We further investigate key trade-offs between system latency, power consumption, and success rate, and we validate sub-Nyquist sampling for blind interference cancellation. We estimate that photonic interference cancellation can reduce the power required for digitization and signal recovery by greater than 74 times compared to the digital electronic alternative. 

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2. A system-on-chip microwave photonic processor solves dynamic RF interference in real time with picosecond latency

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-023-01362-5  

   Zhang, Weipeng; Lederman, Joshua C.; Ferreira de Lima, Thomas; Zhang, Jiawei; Bilodeau, Simon; Hudson, Leila; Tait, Alexander; Shastri, Bhavin J.; Prucnal, Paul R. (January 2024, Light: Science & Applications)

   Abstract Radio-frequency interference is a growing concern as wireless technology advances, with potentially life-threatening consequences like interference between radar altimeters and 5 G cellular networks. Mobile transceivers mix signals with varying ratios over time, posing challenges for conventional digital signal processing (DSP) due to its high latency. These challenges will worsen as future wireless technologies adopt higher carrier frequencies and data rates. However, conventional DSPs, already on the brink of their clock frequency limit, are expected to offer only marginal speed advancements. This paper introduces a photonic processor to address dynamic interference through blind source separation (BSS). Our system-on-chip processor employs a fully integrated photonic signal pathway in the analogue domain, enabling rapid demixing of received mixtures and recovering the signal-of-interest in under 15 picoseconds. This reduction in latency surpasses electronic counterparts by more than three orders of magnitude. To complement the photonic processor, electronic peripherals based on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) assess the effectiveness of demixing and continuously update demixing weights at a rate of up to 305 Hz. This compact setup features precise dithering weight control, impedance-controlled circuit board and optical fibre packaging, suitable for handheld and mobile scenarios. We experimentally demonstrate the processor’s ability to suppress transmission errors and maintain signal-to-noise ratios in two scenarios, radar altimeters and mobile communications. This work pioneers the real-time adaptability of integrated silicon photonics, enabling online learning and weight adjustments, and showcasing practical operational applications for photonic processing. 

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3. Broadband physical layer cognitive radio with an integrated photonic processor for blind source separation

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36814-4  

   Zhang, Weipeng; Tait, Alexander; Huang, Chaoran; Ferreira de Lima, Thomas; Bilodeau, Simon; Blow, Eric C.; Jha, Aashu; Shastri, Bhavin J.; Prucnal, Paul (February 2023, Nature Communications)

   Abstract The expansion of telecommunications incurs increasingly severe crosstalk and interference, and a physical layer cognitive method, called blind source separation (BSS), can effectively address these issues. BSS requires minimal prior knowledge to recover signals from their mixtures, agnostic to the carrier frequency, signal format, and channel conditions. However, previous electronic implementations did not fulfil this versatility due to the inherently narrow bandwidth of radio-frequency (RF) components, the high energy consumption of digital signal processors (DSP), and their shared weaknesses of low scalability. Here, we report a photonic BSS approach that inherits the advantages of optical devices and fully fulfils its “blindness” aspect. Using a microring weight bank integrated on a photonic chip, we demonstrate energy-efficient, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) scalable BSS across 19.2 GHz processing bandwidth. Our system also has a high (9-bit) resolution for signal demixing thanks to a recently developed dithering control method, resulting in higher signal-to-interference ratios (SIR) even for ill-conditioned mixtures. 

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4. Deep learning with photonic neural cellular automata

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-024-01651-7  

   Li, Gordon_H_Y; Leefmans, Christian_R; Williams, James; Gray, Robert_M; Parto, Midya; Marandi, Alireza (October 2024, Light: Science & Applications)

   Abstract Rapid advancements in deep learning over the past decade have fueled an insatiable demand for efficient and scalable hardware. Photonics offers a promising solution by leveraging the unique properties of light. However, conventional neural network architectures, which typically require dense programmable connections, pose several practical challenges for photonic realizations. To overcome these limitations, we propose and experimentally demonstrate Photonic Neural Cellular Automata (PNCA) for photonic deep learning with sparse connectivity. PNCA harnesses the speed and interconnectivity of photonics, as well as the self-organizing nature of cellular automata through local interactions to achieve robust, reliable, and efficient processing. We utilize linear light interference and parametric nonlinear optics for all-optical computations in a time-multiplexed photonic network to experimentally perform self-organized image classification. We demonstrate binary (two-class) classification of images using as few as 3 programmable photonic parameters, achieving high experimental accuracy with the ability to also recognize out-of-distribution data. The proposed PNCA approach can be adapted to a wide range of existing photonic hardware and provides a compelling alternative to conventional photonic neural networks by maximizing the advantages of light-based computing whilst mitigating their practical challenges. Our results showcase the potential of PNCA in advancing photonic deep learning and highlights a path for next-generation photonic computers. 

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5. Floating-point photonic iterative solver demonstrated for Newton–Raphson method

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0216999  

   Klein, Andrew B; Zhu, Zheyuan; Li, Guifang; Pang, Shuo (September 2024, Applied Physics Letters)

   Though photonic computing systems offer advantages in speed, scalability, and power consumption, they often have a limited dynamic encoding range due to low signal-to-noise ratios. Compared to digital floating-point encoding, photonic fixed-point encoding limits the precision of photonic computing when applied to scientific problems. In the case of iterative algorithms such as those commonly applied in machine learning or differential equation solvers, techniques like precision decomposition and residue iteration can be applied to increase accuracy at a greater computing cost. However, the analog nature of photonic symbols allows for modulation of both amplitude and frequency, opening the possibility of encoding both the significand and exponent of floating-point values on photonic computing systems to expand the dynamic range without expending additional energy. With appropriate schema, element-wise floating-point multiplication can be performed intrinsically through the interference of light. Herein, we present a method for configurable, signed, floating-point encoding and multiplication on a limited precision photonic primitive consisting of a directly modulated Mach–Zehnder interferometer. We demonstrate this method using Newton's method to find the Golden Ratio within ±0.11%, with six-level exponent encoding for a signed trinary digit-equivalent significand, corresponding to an effective increase of 243× in the photonic primitive's dynamic range. 

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