Multiple-error-correcting codes for improving the performance of optical matrix–vector processors

I examine the use of Reed–Solomon multiple-error-correcting codes for enhancing the performance of optical matrix–vector processors. An optimal code rate of 0.75 is found, and n – 127 block-length codes are seen to increase the optical matrix dimension achievable by a factor of 2.0 for a required system bit-error rate of 10–15. The optimal codes required for various matrix dimensions are determined. I show that single code word implementations are more efficient than those utilizing multiple code words.