Generalized methods for algorithm development on optical systems

A number of recent studies have revealed that the Optical Transpose Interconnection Systems (or OTIS) are promising candidates for future high-performance parallel computers. In this paper, we present and evaluate two general methods for algorithm development on the OTIS. The proposed methods are general in the sense that no specific factor network or problem domain is assumed. The proposed methods allow efficient mapping of a wide class of algorithms into the OTIS. These methods are based on grids and pipelines as popular structures that support a vast body of parallel applications including linear algebra, divide-and-conquer type of algorithms, sorting, and FFT computation. Timing models for measuring the performance of the proposed methods are also provided. Through these models, the performance of various algorithms on the OTIS are evaluated and compared with their counterparts on conventional electronic interconnection systems. This study confirms the viability of the OTIS as an attractive alternative for large-scale parallel architectures. Finally, we show how the proposed methods can be used to design parallel algorithms for linear algebra on the OTIS.