Holoplex, Inc.

Other

California Institute of Technology

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

University of Connecticut

Digitalpersona, Inc.

Fai Ho Mok

Demetri Psaltis

Gan Zhou

Yong Qiao

Allen Pu

Tsuen-Hsi Liu

Xin An

George Barbastathis

Bahram Javidi

Jeff Yu

Jean-Jacques P Drolet

Hsin-Yu S Li

Geofrrey W Burr

Matt Lazich

Sean Lee

Rudy Gastelum

An optical memory for storing and/or reading data on an optical disk. The optical disk incorporates a material in which holographic gratings can be created, and subsequently detected, at plural locations within the disk by an electro-optical head. Creation and detection of holographic gratings with variable diffraction efficiency is possible with the electro-optical head. Multiple holographic gratings can also be created at each one of the plural locations via a beam of light which has a different wavelength or point of focus. These data elements can be read by the electro-optical head using a beam of light sequentially varied in wavelength or point of focus to correspond to the multiple holographic gratings to be recorded.

Techniques for writing and reading data on an optical disk which include formation of holographic optical gratings in plural locations on the optical disk

An optical memory for storing and/or reading data on an optical disk. The optical disk incorporates a material in which holographic gratings can be created at plural locations within the disk. An electro-optical head which is capable of creating these holographic gratings at any one of the plural locations is employed. The head is additionally capable of detecting the presence or absence of a holographic grating at any one of these plural locations. The presence of the holographic grating could indicate a first binary state and the absence of the holographic grating indicate a second state. Alternately, the electro-optical head could be used to vary the diffraction efficiency of the holographic gratings during their creation. In that case, the head would also be capable of detecting this variation in efficiency and produce a proportional detection signal. This signal would be used as an indicator of the value of the stored data element. The material of the optical disk is further capable of having multiple holographic gratings created at each one of the plural locations. These multiple holographic gratings are created via a beam of light from the electro-optical head which has a different wavelength or point of focus. In reading these holographic gratings, a beam of light generated by the electro-optical head is sequentially varied in wavelength or point of focus to correspond to the wavelength or point of focus and the sequence of wavelengths or points of focus employed to record each one of the data elements recorded.

Apparatus and method for storing and/or reading data on an optical disk

A method and a compact apparatus to read shift-multiplexed holograms on a storage medium without the need for any lenses, and without the need for moving the storage medium. The shift-multiplexed holograms have centers at different locations. The apparatus can generate an array of diverging spherical waves of reference beams, each for illuminating one of the holograms. Each hologram is read as an image on a detector array by illuminating that hologram with a corresponding diverging spherical wave of reference beam. Different holograms can be read by illuminating the medium with a different diverging spherical reference beam. The diverging beams can be from an array of sources, or can be from switching one source.

Solid state holographic memory

An apparatus and a method for recognizing the gesture of the image of a player by identifying a gesture from a set of specific pre-defined gestures. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of retrieving a background image that does not include the player's image, and a current image that includes the player's image and at least a portion of the background image. Then the method removes at least a portion of the background image from the current image to generate the player's image, which is mapped directly to a number of templates to generate a number of template outputs. Finally, the method analyzes the template outputs to identify the specific pre-defined gesture that corresponds to the gesture in the image.

Methods and apparatus for gesture recognition based on templates

Methods and apparatus to reconfigure a programmable logic device on a chip. The device includes a number of configurable elements. The methods include the steps of retrieving reconfiguration data pre-stored in a memory device located apart from the chip, and transferring the retrieved reconfiguration data in parallel to each of the configurable elements. One approach pre-stores the data in holograms.

Reconfigurable programmable logic devices

A method and a system to re-align onto a detector array a holographic image of a Fourier region hologram stored in a medium, with the medium spinning around a first axis, and the hologram being generated by a reference beam and a signal beam. In generating the hologram, the reference beam is incident on the medium with respect to a second axis at a second-axis-incident angle, and a third axis at a third-axis-incident angle, such that the holographic image of the hologram when reproduced by the reference beam is aligned onto the detector array. Also, the three axes are substantially orthogonal to each other. As the medium spins, the medium's orientation can change through tilting with respect to the second and the third axes so that the holographic image when reproduced by the reference beam is not aligned onto the detector array. In one embodiment, the holographic image is re-aligned onto the detector array by tilting the reference beam such that when re-aligned, the incident angle of the reference beam on the medium with respect to the second axis is intentionally tilted to be different from the second-axis-incident angle, and with respect to the third axis to be different from the third-axis-incident angle.

Method and system to align holographic images

The present invention is a holographic reconstruction device for reconstructing successive holograms previously recorded by a recording reference beam in a recording medium, each previously recorded successive hologram being spaced apart a recording displacement. The recording reference beam has a recording wavelength in the range where the recording medium is photosensitive and a recording propagation angle. The device comprises a reconstruction mechanism having a reconstruction reference beam with a reconstruction wavelength in the range where the recording medium is relatively photo-insensitive and a reconstruction propagation angle. The reconstruction reference beam is provided onto the recording medium. Also, a succession of relative displacements in the recording medium is produced and each of the displacements are equal to the distance of the recording displacements with which the holograms were previously recorded. In addition, a detection device detects reconstruction of the previously recorded holograms at the reconstruction wavelength.

Non-volatile readout of shift multiplexed holograms

Game station

A method of verifying the authenticity of an object is disclosed employing a spatial integrating optical correlator. An unreadable and hence non-counterfeitable mask (e.g., a. complex mask or a phase mask) is coupled to the object and the optical correlator compares the mask with a reference mask on which it is scanned over. The correlator produces a correlation spot or image having an intensity which exceeds a given level if the mask is genuine. An alternate embodiment includes a fingerprint or other personalized pattern bonded to the mask, and the fingerprint or other personalized pattern on the card is compared to a reference fingerprint or other personalized pattern of the card holder for added security.

Spatial integrating optical correlator for verifying the authenticity of

In one embodiment, a fingerprint sensing system includes a sheet prism having a sensing surface and a number of prismlets positioned opposite to the sensing surface. Each prismlet has an entrance surface and an exit surface, and is adjacent to another prismlet. The width of the sheet is more than ten times the maximum thickness of any one of the prismlets. When a finger is positioned on the sensing surface, a portion of the radiation entering a number of the entrance surfaces and incident at the sensing surface is reflected through total internal reflection. The reflected radiation emits from a number of the exit surfaces to create an image of the fingerprint. In another embodiment, the system further includes a second sheet prism stacked together with the previously described sheet prism. The second sheet prism has a flat surface and a number of prismlets positioned opposite to the flat surface, which faces the prismlets of the previously described sheet prism. The image formed with two sheet prisms can have lower distortion. In yet another embodiment, the fingerprint sensing system is incorporated into a flat-profile package using mirrors to fold radiation and to compress the height of the package.

Fingerprint sensing system using a sheet prism

The invention is embodied in an optical memory having a holographic recording medium capable of storing respective holograms in respective storage spots, the memory including a coherent collimated reference beam and an information-bearing object beam illuminating the recording medium, a segmented optical array including a stack of plural segmented optical sub-arrays, each of the segmented optical sub-arrays including an array of generally parallel optical strips, each optical strip having a strip length extending parallel to the optical strips, respective optical strips of all of the sub-arrays providing an optical path for the reference beam to respective recording spots in the holographic recording medium whenever the reference beam is incident within the strip length, two optical strips in different sub-arrays with optical paths to the same recording spot being separated by at least an out-of-plane multiplexing difference angle subtended by paths of the reference beam to the two optical strips, a reference beam steering apparatus for scanning the reference beam to different locations on the segmented optical array, and a modulator apparatus for modulating the object beam with a succession of input patterns simultaneously with the scanning of the reference beam by the reference beam steering apparatus so as to record a plurality of angle multiplexed and out-of-plane multiplexed holograms in at least one of the recording spots. Each of the sub-arrays corresponds to a different out-of-plane multiplexing angle of the reference beam.

Holographic memory with angle, spatial and out-of-plane multiplexing

Selecting different sectors in a storage medium using switches on the storage medium, instead of programming the instrument reading the storage medium. Each switch has a switching material. The switching material can be located at more than one interchangeable position. The position determines the priority of its corresponding sector as compared to other sectors. The location of the switching material is determined electronically. Switching materials suitable for the present invention include a reflective material, an opaque material, a reflective concave material, a convex lens, a prism, a set of lines, a magnetic material and a flexible reflective membrane.

Selecting sectors in a storage medium

Multiple volume holograms are recorded by changing the incidence angle of the reference beam at one wavelength. The stored holograms are reconstructed at another wavelength by using the reference beam oriented at the proper incidence angle. The proper holographic data are retrieved by pre-formatting or post-formatting the holographic data to be recorded or reconstructed. This usage of using different wavelengths for recording and reconstruction are independent of the scanning mechanisms for the reference beam. Utilization of holographic memories for storage and retrieval of data, and correlations can make use of this invention.

Non-destructive readout mechanism for volume holograms using two

Disclosed is a spatial multiplexer for use with a holographic storage medium, and an information storage system employing the spatial multiplexer. The spatial multiplexer directs a reference beam of optical radiation onto the storage medium, the storage medium having (n) rows and (m) columns of storage locations. The spatial multiplexer includes an array of (n times m) discrete reflector elements each having a linear shape. The discrete reflector elements are disposed in a parallel arrangement with one another upon a substrate, and each has a different angular orientation with respect to the storage medium. A deflection of the reference beam by an angle multiplexer changes the angle of incidence of the reference beam on the storage medium, which provides multiple angles required for angle multiplexing a plurality of superimposed holograms within a single storage location. A deflection of the reference beam by the spatial multiplexer specifies one of the plurality of reflectors, and thus selects one of the storage locations upon which the angle multiplexed reference beam is incident.

Growing community of inventors

West Hills, CA, United States of America

Fai Ho Mok