An optical system for full text search

Abstract

In this paper we propose a full text search system based on optics. The storage and processing of the textual data are performed by an optical back-end system to an electronic computer. In this way we can take advantage of the speed and parallelism of digital optical processing. Using the proposed configuration we show how one might implement a set of text processing operations using lasers, spatial light modulators and photodetectors.

<title>Digital optoelectronic computer for textual pattern matching</title>

“…If a "hit" is detected in the next x+2 cycles (where x is the number of characters in X), the match signal is cancelled. 7. Search for the patterns ?X or X?…”

“…Figure 1. Optical text processing system It is logical then to consider passing the data directly to an optical text processor that performs a variety of text operations on the light beams based upon user queries [6,7] . The resulting data that satisfy the queries are transformed from photons to electrons and transferred to an electronic buffer for further processing by the electronic computer or presentation to the user.…”