NEW PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR SENSOR-BASED COMPUTER SYSTEMS

A NEW SENSOR-BASED PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE DESIGN OF SENSOR-BASED PROCESSING SYSTEMS. USING A FIBER OPTIC OUTER SHELL (SMART SKIN) AS A SENSING ELEMENT WOULD CREATE A MULTIDIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE. THE GEOMETRIC JUXTAPOSITION POSSIBLE IN AN ELECTRO-OPTICAL NETWORK AND THE ORTHOGONAL PLACEMENT OF SENSING/DETECTION AND PROCESSING ELEMENTS COULD GREATLY REDUCE THE INTERCONNECTIVITY PROBLEMS THAT PRESENTLY EXIST IN PARALLEL PROCESSING SYSTEMS. CONSEQUENTLY, A PRACTICAL REAL-TIME PERCEPTION, ACTION, AND DECISION BASED CONTROL AND PROCESSING SYSTEM COULD EVOLVE. NEW PACKAGING TECHNIQUES BASED ON GEOMETRIC FLEXIBILITY COULD PROVIDE FOR BOTH DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING AND CONTROL. SUCH A PHYSICAL SYSTEM COULD PROVIDE A BASIS FOR USEFUL NEURAL NETWORKS AND AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS. THE FABRICATION OF A DENSE STRUCTURE CONTAINING FIBER OPTIC SENSORS CAPABLE OF OPERATING IN MULTIPLE MODALITIES COULD SOLVE SOME ISSUES RELATED TO SENSOR FUSION AND INTERCONNECT COMPLEXITY. POSSIBLE PHYSICAL SOLUTIONS RELATING TO THE MULTIPLE SENSOR INTERACTIONS WITH DETECTION/PROCESSING ELEMENTS WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN PHASE I, AND A PROTOTYPE OF A PROMISING CONFIGURATION WILL BE PRODUCED.