ABSTRACT

Use of optical, electrooptic and optoelectronic technologies in various information-oriented applications is as old as smoke signals and as new as all-optical switching for ultrafast dense wavelength division multiplexed networks. In this talk, I will give a broad survey of one particular aspect of this broad field – information processing. I will briefly review the evolution of research concepts, technologies and applications. I will conclude by describing some of the current programs at DARPA and speculating about future directions.