单项选择题
Electronic computer speeds are restricted not only by the speed of electrons
in matter but also by the escalating density of interconnections necessary to
connect the electronic gates on microchips. Electrical engineers and physicists
Line have been developing and augmenting the technologies of analog and digital
(5) optical computing, in which the information is primarily carried by photons
rather than by electrons. Optical computing could, in principle, generate much
higher computer speeds, but one of the problems it has encountered lies in
accuracy, for these devices have practical limits of 8 to 11 bits of accuracy in
basic operations. Recent research has evinced that digital partitioning
(10) algorithms in tandem with error-correction codes, can substantially enhance the
accuracy of optical computing operations. In the near term optical computers
will most likely be hybrid optical/electronic systems that preprocess input data
for computation and post-process output data via electronic circuits, but
nevertheless, the prospect of all-optical computing remains highly attractive.
(A) Researchers have not yet discovered a means of transporting photons more efficiently.
(B) Their primary limitation is the density of connections required between electronic microchip gates.
(C) Their accuracy level is poor at 8 to 11 bits, but still superior to that of electronic computers.
(D) They invariably rely on electronic circuits to preprocess input data for computation.
(E) Both analog and digital forms of optic computing are presently being developed by scientists.