Multiplex coding for real-time optical image processing

The latest developments in optical image processing for security, compression and cryptography require parallel real time processing and multiplexing. In this paper, we propose the application of the well-know "coherence modulation of light" technique for real-time encoding and decoding of signals which can be useful for optical image processing. This method uses the coherence properties of broadband sources for encoding signals onto light beams. One major asset of this approach, compared to other conventional optical modulation methods, is an original multiplex coding of several signals through a single light beam. We achieve simultaneous real-time all optical image processing of analog two-dimensional signals and suggest a set of new criteria, based on mean square error, signal to noise ratio and peak to peak signal to noise, to improve the quality of the decoding image as function of the optical path difference and the coherence length of the source.