Discussion on multidimensional fuzzy control

Fuzzy-logic inference engines are in use in various disciplines such as con trol systems, medicine, and the like. The use of optical tools to implement such engines may improve the performance and the flexibility of inference procedures. The optical processor works in a two-dimensional environment, w hereas the inference engine might have to handle more than two independent input channels. Here several approaches to generating the first, to our kno wledge, N-dimensional optical fuzzy processor are addressed. The first appr oach uses space multiplexing, the second approach uses polarization multipl exing, and the third approach uses wavelength multiplexing to increase the dimension of the processor. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America. OCIS codes : 050.1970, 070.4560, 200.4660.