Artificial Neural Systems (ANS) are extremely promising as a way of achieving ''true intelligence." The Japanese have challenged the U.S. to a multibillion dollar 10 year cooperative effort in this field which they call the Sixth Generation Computer. The essence is to use many simple processors multiply and complexly interconnected. Optics offers a three dimensionality for interconnects unapproachable by electronics. In particular, the technique proposed here can make 10'2 weighted interconnects in parallel. In addition, it allows continuous time operation, fast response, low power consumption, low cost, and all optical. The Phase I effort is an exploration of the potentials and limitations of the all optical ANS. Issues such as accuracy, speed, stability, size, and ability to accommodate various ANS paradigms will be studied. In Phase 11, a generic ANS will be designed using commercial parts and its performance properties will be predicted.Anticipated Results and
Potential Commercial Applications: Research could be applied in the areas of industrial process control, safety control, data base management, and robotics.
