Reservoir Computing Using Laser Networks

Reservoir computing is a neuromorphic computing scheme inspired by the human brain. It has found great success as a versatile hardware-compatible application of machine learning concepts. In this paper, we highlight the fundamental working principles and important characteristics of reservoir computing with a particular focus on photonic systems and networks. These systems can further be enhanced by the inclusion of delayed variables to produce complex spatiotemporally mixed “time-multiplexed” networks. We use a simple nonlinear oscillator model, that is not only applicable to lasers, but can also describe a variety of other oscillating systems.