US Patent 7302513 - Programmable crossbar architecture for signal processing

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7302513.html

Crossbar architectures have been used in signal interconnects in a variety of communication applications and, more recently, in forming arrays for molecular and thin film memories. This patent is based on ideas I had a couple of years ago for implementing a molecular or thin film crossbar array to perform the function of a programmable linear transform for signal processing which has applications in the areas of waveform generation, programmable filter design, and frequency hopping communication schemes. Claim 1 reads:

1. A signal processor comprising:

a crossbar array including one or more materials or molecular components formed between intersections of the crossbar array wherein the one or more materials or molecular components is programmable so as to have a corresponding programmed impedance value Zij at each of the intersections, where i is an integer ranging from 1 to N, j is an integer ranging from 1 to M, N corresponds to a number of input wires in the crossbar array, M corresponds to a number of output wires in the crossbar array, at least one of N or M is equal or greater than 2 and the other one of N or M is equal to or greater than 1;

an input unit providing a set of N input signals Vin(i) directed toward the input wires of the crossbar array; and

an output unit outputting a set of M output signals Vout(j) derived from the output wires of the crossbar array,

wherein the crossbar array, input unit, and output unit are constructed so that each of the programmed impedance values Zij uniquely determines a corresponding value Tij such that Vout(j)= SUM [Tij x Vin(i)], which is a summation performed for i from 1 to N.