Differential Reconfiguration Architecture suitable for a Holographic Memory

Optically Reconfigurable Gate Arrays (ORGAs), by exploiting the large storage capacity of holographic memory, offer the possibility of providing a virtual gate count that is much larger than those of currently available VLSI circuits. In such cases, because circuits implemented on a gate array often must be changed with virtual circuits stored in a holographic memory, rapid reconfiguration is necessary to reduce the reconfiguration overhead. However, high-power lasers are required for ORGAs to realize short reconfiguration time because the diffraction efficiency of a holographic memory is not good. Therefore, realization of both rapid reconfiguration and low power consumption has been difficult. For that reason, we have introduced a differential reconfiguration architecture for ORGAs to increase the reconfiguration cycle frequency and to decrease its power consumption. This paper presents the advantage of a differential reconfiguration architecture that is suitable for ORGAs with a holographic memory. In addition, experimental results of a perfect optical differential reconfigurable system with an ODRGA-VLSI chip and holographic memory are presented.