All-optical quaternary logic gates

Conventional binary logic based operations restrict the speed of operations as well as information handling capacity. A way to overcome these limitations is the implementation of multivalued logic operations in the optical domain. Multivalued logic operations not only enhance the data handling capacities but also increase the speed of processing. integrating enormous potential bandwidth of optical fiber as information carrying medium and faster optoelectronic/optical switches with no hardware complexity. A new method is proposed for the implementation of all-optical quaternary inversion, MAX, MIN, and equality operations using frequency-encoded data. Cross phase modulation-based frequency conversion, polarization switch (PSW) characteristics of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), frequency routing by a wave division multiplexer (MUX), and a demultiplexer (DMUX) have been exploited to implement the desired quaternary logic operations. Simulation results support the feasibility of the proposed scheme.