RAISE: The Reconfigurable Optical Computer (ROC)

RAISE：可重构光学计算机 (ROC)

• 批准号: 1748294
• 负责人: Tarek El-Ghazawi
• 金额: $ 90万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1748294&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAISE; Reconfigurable; Optical; Computer; ROC

The era of observing processor speed and number of transistors doubling every 18-24 months, as noted in the so-called Moore's law is believed to be over, due to the associated increase in power consumption and technology physical limitations. Computers and their applications, however, have been the backbone of modern life and will continue to be so at even a higher rate. The demands for increased computing capabilities will continue to be on the rise due to the increase in data volumes that need to be processed. Further, the increase in demand for higher accuracy will also continue in order to support the rising needs for scientific discoveries and engineering breakthroughs, and the demand for smaller and more energy efficient computing devices is also rapidly growing as we move towards smarter cities and a smarter world. It is therefore imperative to search for game changing computing devices that are orders of magnitude faster, smaller and more energy efficient as opposed to the current digital computer technology that seem to be approaching daunting physical limitations. This proposal introduces a transformative computing device based on analog computing, reconfigurable computing architectures, nanophotonics, and the advances in material science. This new computing device, which is referred to as the reconfigurable optical computer (ROC), aims to achieve a leap forward in processing technology in addition to opening the doors for continued future developments.This reconfigurable optical processor (ROC) that is capable of performing computations out of first principle by solving those partial differential equations (PDEs) that are used for most simulations in science and engineering in one shot, rather than iteratively as in digital computers. Such PDEs can be realized and directly solved using a network of electric components. Those electric circuit components will be implemented using programmable nanophotonic devices, referred to as the reconfigurable optical elements (ROEs). ROEs can change their optical characteristics under electrical bias to represent different components suitable for solving different problems. ROEs are novel voltage programmable photonic components utilizing electro-optic effects (i.e. modulation) and optical absorption (i.e. photodetection) to mimic electrical circuit elements. The approach includes a risk-tired strategy for ROE design (low-to-high). Supporting programming/reconfiguration memory cells and enabling electronic devices will be explored to form an integrated reconfigurable architecture, the Reconfigurable Optical Computer (ROC). An appropriate software stack including programming and execution modules for such new paradigm will be also investigated to provide a productive platform for domain users. If successful, the ROC system can potentially achieve orders of magnitude improvements in speed, energy consumption and footprint as compared to the modern state-of-the-art processors and potentially simplify software, providing substantial impacts on many domains from the electronic industry to smart life.

由于功耗和技术物理限制的相关增加，如所谓的摩尔定律所指出的，观察到处理器速度和晶体管数量每18-24个月翻一番的时代被认为已经结束。 然而，计算机及其应用一直是现代生活的支柱，并将以更高的速度继续如此。 由于需要处理的数据量增加，对提高计算能力的需求将继续增加。 此外，对更高精度的需求也将继续增长，以支持对科学发现和工程突破的不断增长的需求，随着我们向更智能的城市和更智能的世界迈进，对更小、更节能的计算设备的需求也在迅速增长。 因此，迫切需要寻找改变游戏规则的计算设备，这些计算设备与似乎正在接近令人生畏的物理限制的当前数字计算机技术相反，是数量级更快、更小和更节能的。 该提案介绍了一种基于模拟计算、可重构计算架构、纳米光子学和材料科学进步的变革性计算设备。 这种新的计算设备，被称为可重构光学计算机（ROC），旨在实现处理技术的飞跃，同时为未来的持续发展打开大门。这种可重构光学处理器（ROC）能够通过求解偏微分方程（PDE）来执行第一原理之外的计算。在科学和工程中，大多数模拟都是一次性完成的，而不是像数字计算机那样反复进行。 这样的偏微分方程可以实现，并直接解决使用网络的电子组件。这些电路组件将使用可编程纳米光子器件来实现，称为可重构光学元件（ROE）。 ROE可以在电偏压下改变其光学特性，以表示适合于解决不同问题的不同组件。 ROE是利用电光效应（即调制）和光吸收（即光电检测）来模仿电路元件的新型电压可编程光子元件。这一方法包括一种风险疲劳战略，用于设计净资产收益率（从低到高）。支持编程/重构存储单元和使电子设备将被探索，以形成一个集成的可重构架构，可重构光学计算机（ROC）。 一个适当的软件栈，包括编程和执行模块，这种新的范例也将被调查，为领域用户提供一个富有成效的平台。 如果成功，ROC系统与现代最先进的处理器相比，可能在速度、能耗和占地面积方面实现数量级的改进，并可能简化软件，对从电子工业到智能生活的许多领域产生重大影响。

项目成果

Approximate analog computing with metatronic circuits

• DOI: 10.1038/s42005-021-00683-4
• 发表时间: 2021-08
• 期刊: Communications Physics
• 影响因子: 5.5
• 作者: M. Miscuglio;Yaliang Gui;Xiaoxuan Ma;Zhizhen Ma;Shuai Sun;T. El Ghazawi;T. Itoh;A. Alú;V. Sorger

Induced homomorphism: Kirchhoff’s law in photonics

• DOI: 10.1515/nanoph-2020-0655
• 发表时间: 2021-03
• 期刊: Nanophotonics
• 影响因子: 7.5
• 作者: Shuai Sun;M. Miscuglio;Xiaoxuan Ma;Zhizhen Ma;Chen Shen;Engin Kayraklioglu;Jeff Anderson;T. El Ghazawi;V. Sorger

Virtualizing a Post-Moore’s Law Analog Mesh Processor: The Case of a Photonic PDE Accelerator

虚拟化后摩尔定律模拟网格处理器：光子 PDE 加速器的案例

• DOI: 10.1145/3544971
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems
• 影响因子: 2
• 作者: Anderson, Jeff;Kayraklioglu, Engin;Imani, Hamid Reza;Shen, Chen;Miscuglio, Mario;Sorger, Volker J.;El-Ghazawi, Tarek
• 通讯作者: El-Ghazawi, Tarek

ROC: A Reconfigurable Optical Computer for Simulating Physical Processes

• DOI: 10.1145/3380944
• 发表时间: 2020-03-01
• 期刊: ACM TRANSACTIONS ON PARALLEL COMPUTING
• 影响因子: 1.6
• 作者: Anderson, Jeff;Kayraklioglu, Engin;El-Ghazawi, Tarek
• 通讯作者: El-Ghazawi, Tarek

Software stack for an analog mesh computer: the case of a nanophotonic PDE accelerator

模拟网状计算机的软件堆栈：纳米光子 PDE 加速器的案例

• DOI: 10.1145/3387902.3394030
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: 17th ACM International Conference on Computing Frontiers
• 作者: Kayraklioglu, Engin;Anderson, Jeff;Imani, Hamid Reza;Sorger, Volker;El-Ghazawi, Tarek
• 通讯作者: El-Ghazawi, Tarek