An Optical Bit-Counting Algorithm

Abstract

This paper addresses the omnipresent problem of counting bits - an operation discussed since the very early stages of the establishing of computer science. The need for a quick bit-counting method acquires a special significance with the proliferation of search engines on the Internet. It arises in several other computer applications. This is especially true in information retrieval in which an array of binary vectors is used to represent a characteristic function (CF) of a set of qualified documents. The number of "I"s in the CF equals the cardinality of the set. The process of repeated evaluations of this cardinality is a pivotal point in choosing a rational strategy for deciding whether to constrain or broaden the search criteria to ensure selection of the desired items. Another need for bit-counting occurs when trying to determine the differences between given files, (images or text), in terms of the Hamming distance. An Exclusive OR operation applied to a pair of files results in a binary vector array of mismatches that must be counted.