Design of a trinary multiplier using polarization encoded optical shadow casting

The technique of polarization-encoded optical shadow casting (POSC) is used to design a 2-b by 2-b trinary multiplier. The design algorithms for implementing the appropriate source plane, input planes, and output mask for the multiplier are demonstrated for serial operation. A novel design approach for enhancing the serial implementation is proposed. This design algorithmic scheme is implemented and verified by computer simulation of the multiplier. The proposed trinary multiplier design illustrates the applicability of the POSC design algorithms. An extension to the algorithms originally proposed by A.A.S. Awwal and M.A. Karim (1987, 1988, 1989) accommodates the complexities of multivalued logic designs with multiple input bits (resulting in many minterms) and many output bits.<>