Optical logic gates and free space interconnects have been used to implement optical systems modules. These modules have been assembled to implement a circular optical pipeline. The design performance and motivation behind this optical pipeline are discussed. BASICSTRATEGY In the field of computers there is the concept of a platform. A platform is a set of standards used to minimize risk and maximize flexibility. An IBM personal computer is an example of a platform. By setting standards for the hardware backplane and software operating system many smaller vendors could with relatively little risk develop boards and programs for this computer. The users were also pleased by the variety and lower cost. We have actively been trying to establish such a platform for optics. A DIGITAL INTERFACE The most important standard which we have been trying to establish has been a digital interface. Optical systems have traditionally been analog. The problems with this approach is that it is increasingly difficult to build complexity and there was very little reuse of sub-systems because of their specialized nature. Our approach was digital. This initially made things more difficult however we have already noticed several benefits. It allowed use to decouple work on the logic gates from the optics and architecture. The architecture didn''t depend on some novel aspect of physics while the devices weren''t applicable to only one architecture. This minimiZed the risk for
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