Programmable hybrid acousto-optic processor for transversal and recursive filtering

A hybrid acoustooptic processor, limited to iterative signal processing (transversal filtering), was reported previously by the authors (1990). An extension to recursive filtering is now reported. As a benefit from the needed modifications, the computation cycles of the system are now fully programmable (like for bit-slice processors) and optimized in order to preserve the high speed rate capability of the acoustooptic interaction. The various stages in the design, the realization using erasable programmable logic devices, and applications to infinite impulse response filtering and matched filtering are presented. The performance of the new system and its applicability to multidimensional signal processing and image processing are discussed