Patent ID: 8438209
Filing Date: 2013-05-07
Classification: G06E,G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of adding first and second digital data signals, each data signal having a plurality of bytes including a most significant byte and a least significant byte, comprising: converting each byte of the first and second digital data signals into a respective optical signal; summing the optical signals of common byte positions of the first and second digital data signals to create a plurality of summed optical signals equal in number to the number of bytes in each of the first and second digital data signals; for the summed optical signal associated with the least significant bytes, determining whether the power of the summed optical signal is above a reference power threshold, and creating a carry if the power of the summed optical signal of the least significant bytes is above the reference power threshold and adding the carry to the summed optical signal associated with the next byte position of the first and second digital data signals; and thereafter converting the summed optical signals, plus any added carry, to summed digital data signals and assembling the summed digital data signals into byte order to create a summed data signal representing a sum of the first and second digital data signals.