Application of massively parallel processors to real time processing of high speed images

This paper demonstrates that the real-time utilization of image sequences, at frame rates far above what is currently possible, can now be achieved with an optically interconnected massively parallel processor. A focal plane processing chip with an on-chip array of sigma-delta analog to digital converter front ends under each pixel is presented. This two layer chip is a scaleable high frame rate image capture building block, however it requires a third layer of data processing to filter the sigma-delta front end data to obtain images. The use of an array of optically connected processors beneath the chip proves to be the best solution to this challenging data processing task.