Stochastic algorithms such as simulated annealing in its various applications1
or Monte Carlo schemes may be implemented in parallel. Integration of many
hundreds, perhaps thousands of processing elements (P.E.) on single VLSI chips is
being investigated . However, such chips encounter great difficulties in the
generation of the random number arrays required for these algorithms: typical
requirements are thousands of spatially independent random numbers, each with a
temporal correlation in the microsecond range. Optical solutions using speckle may
be helpful.
Whereas the literature mainly investigates 2-moving-diffusers methods3'4 , we
show here that a method based on the statistical properties of Nmodal noise", i.e.
speckle patterns created by a step index multimode fiber, is well suited to the
purpose5.
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