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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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Iterative eigensolver using fixed-point photonic primitive
Photonic computing has potential advantages in speed and energy consumption yet is subject to inaccuracy due to the limited equivalent bitwidth of the analog signal. In this Letter, we demonstrate a configurable, fixed-point coherent photonic iterative solver for numerical eigenvalue problems using shifted inverse iteration. The photonic primitive can accommodate arbitrarily sized sparse matrix–vector multiplication and is deployed to solve eigenmodes in a photonic waveguide structure. The photonic iterative eigensolver does not accumulate errors from each iteration, providing a path toward implementing scientific computing applications on photonic primitives.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1932858
- PAR ID:
- 10483601
- Publisher / Repository:
- Optical Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Optics Letters
- Volume:
- 49
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0146-9592; OPLEDP
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 194
- Size(s):
- Article No. 194
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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