Radio-Frequency Down-Conversion via Sampled Analog Optical Links

摘要

In this work we derive and experimentally verify the radio-frequency performance of a down-converter employing a sampled analog optical link. We show that the down-converter operation is well described by conventional analog optical link theory, with additional impact from the sampling optical pulse shape. We also demonstrate that the required photodiode performance is determined only by the sampling rate not the highest frequency of interest. We verify our analysis with an experimental demonstration of down-conversion of radio-frequency signals in the 1:10 GHz range using a 1-GHz sampled analog optical link.