Enhanced photon-assisted RF spectrum analyzer for ultra-wideband receivers

摘要

Disclosed herein is a photonic-assisted radio frequency spectrum scanning device including: a first optical waveguide arm (210); a second optical waveguide arm (220); a tunable single-wavelength laser (201), that is connected to input ends of the first and second optical waveguide arms (210, 220), and is operable to supply said first and second optical waveguide arms (210,220) with a single- wavelength optical signal having a single, tunable wavelength; an optical hybrid coupler (204), that is connected to output ends of the first and second optical waveguide arms (210,220), and is designed to combine optical signals received from said first and second optical waveguide arms (210,220) so as to produce corresponding optical in-phase and quadrature components; and photodetection means (231,232), that are connected to the optical hybrid coupler (204) to receive the optical in- phase and quadrature components, and are configured to convert said optical in-phase and quadrature components into corresponding baseband electrical analog in-phase and quadrature components. In particular, the first optical waveguide arm (210) comprises an electro-optical modulator (211), that is designed to receive an incoming radio frequency signal and to modulate the single-wavelength optical signal by means of the incoming radio frequency signal, thereby producing a modulated optical signal. Moreover, the second optical waveguide arm (220) comprises: a coherent optical comb generator (221), that is designed to generate an optical wavelength comb on the basis of the single-wavelength optical signal; and a fixed optical bandpass filter (223), that is designed to filter the optical wavelength comb so as to select a portion thereof, thereby producing a filtered optical signal.