FIBER

FIBER BASED
BASED PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS

Joel L. Guggenmos,
Joel L. Guggenmos, Ronald L.
L. Johnson
Johnson

Inc.
TRW Inc.
Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics Department
Defense Division
Defense Communications Division
Redondo Beach, California 90278
Redondo Beach, 90278

Abstract
A phased array
array antenna
antenna is
is aa multi-
multi-element
element antenna
antenna capable
capable of
of agile electronic
electronic beam
beam
forming and
forming requiring several
and steering requiring several hundred
hundred high frequency,
frequency, wide bandwidth,
bandwidth, interconnec-
interconnec-
tions. Conventional distribution methods using waveguide or or coax
coax are
are impractical
impractical because
because
they
they exhibit
exhibit high attenuation,
attenuation, limited
limited bandwidth,
bandwidth, sensitivity
sensitivity to
to EMI,
EMI, temperature
temperature drifts,
drifts, and
and
instability. Additionally,
phase instability. Additionally, forfor large
large numbers
numbers of
of antenna
antenna elements,
elements, the
the size
size and
and weight
weight
of
of such
such systems
systems make impossible for
make them impossible for large
large scale
scale implementation
implementation on
on communication
communication satel-
satel-
lites. RF signal
signal distribution
distribution viavia fiber
fiber optic
optic technology
technology is
is aa potential
potential solution
solution to
to these
these
antenna problems.
phased array antenna problems.
Introduction
RF systems may profit from
RF systems from the
the low
low attenuation,
attenuation, high
high bandwidth,
bandwidth, negligible
negligible EMI
EMI noise,
noise,
low
low crosstalk,
crosstalk, and stability with temperature
and good phase stability temperature variation of fiber
fiber optic
optic systems.l
systems. 1
Logistically, electro
Logistically, electro-optic
-optic systems
systems are
are smaller,lighter,
smaller,lighter, and
and more thereby making
more flexible thereby making
large
large spaceborne arrays possible.
possible. Optoelectronic integrated circuits
Optoelectronic integrated (OEIC) have bias elec-
circuits (OEIC)
tronics, drive circuits,
tronics, circuits, lasers,
lasers, detectors
detectors and
and amplifiers
amplifiers integrated
integrated on
on aa single
single substrate.2
substrate.2
Monolithic
Monolithic integration promises to to reduce
reduce the
the size,
size, weight,
weight, cost,
cost, and
and power
power associated
associated with
with
discrete components in
discrete in addition
addition toto facilitating
facilitating ease
ease of
of assembly.
On-board
On -board satellite
satellite signal
signal processing
processing and
and switching
switching are functions. Once the
are important functions. the
conversion to
conversion to the optical domain is is accomplished
accomplished there
there are
are several
several optical
optical signal
signal processing
processing
that can
techniques that can potentially
potentially bebe inserted.
inserted. Some
Some of
of the
the operations
operations that can be be performed
performed in
the optical
the optical domain are time
time delay,
delay, multiplication,
multiplication, convolution,
convolution, filtering,
filtering, correlation,
correlation, and
and
Fourier analysis. These
Fourier These functions will
will play an increasingly important rolerole as
as communication
communication
systems grow in complexity and
systems and optical
optical technology
technology matures.
matures. For
For example, fiber optic
example, fiber optic trans-
trans-
versal could perform
versal filters could perform signal
signal processing
processing operations
operations while
while acousto
acousto-optic devices could
-optic devices could
perform
perform parallel filtering.
parallel frequency filtering.

The
The nature of phased array
array antennas
antennas require
require extremely
extremely precise
precise distributions systems
systems
since
since beam
beam forming and steering
steering isis accomplished
accomplished byby phase
phase changes
changes ofof the
the RF
RF signal.
signal. Transmis-
sion
sion to
to and
and from antenna elements willwill generally
generally consist
consist of of low
low level
level RFRF signals
signals or
or local
local
oscillators. The system specifications
specifications that
that fiber
fiber based
based phased
phased arrays
arrays must
must achieve
achieve toto be
be
competitive
competitive with their electronic counterparts
counterparts areare very
very stiff.
stiff. The according to
The requirements according to
J. Forrest,
J. Forrest, in a previously
previously published
published paper,3
paper,3 are
are aa dynamic
dynamic range
range for
for receive
receive channels
channels
greater 130 dB
greater than 130 dB/Hz
/Hz with
with aa phase less than
phase noise less than -130
-130 dBc
dBc/Hz
/Hz at
at 10
10 kHz offset. Amplitude
phase fluctuations potentially
and phase pptentially as as small
small as
as .1
.1 dB
dB and
and 11 degree.
degree. To reduce
reduce succeptibility
succeptibility
to
to jamming,
jamming, very
very low sidelobs are are needed
needed with
with aa rms
rms level
level of
of less
less than
than -40
-40 dBc.
dBc. Ideally Low
Noise Amplifiers (LNA)
Noise (LNA) would
would define
define the
the system
system noise
noise floor
floor with
with the
the optical
optical system
system essen-
essen-
tially
tially transparent.
transparent. In general the the control
control signals
signals toto set
set the
the phase
phase and
and gain
gain of
of the
the individ-
individ-
ual elements
ual elements are at
at most
most aa few
few kilobytes,
kilobytes, well
well within
within the
the grasp
grasp of
of digital
digital fiber
fiber optic
optic com-
com-
systems. Future
munication systems. Future generations will require tighter
will require tighter performance such such as
as higher
higher gain,
gain,
wider
wider bandwidth and frequency,
frequency, with
with greater
greater temporal
temporal andand spatial
spatial diversity.
diversity. Digital
Digital beam
forming
forming techniques
techniques may relax
relax these
these requirements
requirements and
and thereby
thereby simplify
simplify optical
optical distribution.3,4
distribution.3/4
Optoelectronic
Optoelectronic Performance
The
The advantages of using optoelectronic
Optoelectronic methods
methods for
for phased
phased array
array antennas
antennas typically
typically stem
from
from the
the characteristics of the
the optical
optical fiber
fiber itself,
itself, while
while the
the disadvantages
disadvantages arise
arise from
from the
the
performance associated with
performance with the
the laser
laser and
and the
the detector.
detector. The
The optoelectronic
Optoelectronic transducers
transducers
(laser
(laser and
and detector)
detector) degrade
degrade the performance by reducing
the system performance reducing the dynamic range.
range. The
dynamic range is
dynamic range is degraded due to anan increase
increase in
in the
the noise
noise floor or nonlinearities. Speci-
fically, the
fically, relative intensity noise (RIN)
the relative (RIN) of
of the
the laser
laser defines
defines the
the noise
noise floor
floor while
while the
the
linearity
linearity isis defined
defined by the
the laser's (or
(or external
external modulator's)
modulator's) transfer
transfer function.
function. RIN is is
primarily due to spontaneous recombination
due to recombination within the
the laser's
laser's active
active region
region and
and may
may be
be
enhanced
enhanced byby optical feedback from
optical feedback from reflections
reflections off
off other
other components.5
components.^ The relative
relative intensity
noise
noise of the laser
of the laser severely degrades the
the system
system phase
phase noise
noise to
to the
the extent
extent that
that RIN
RIN defines
defines
the noise floor.6
the system phase noise floor. 6 An important
important system
system trade
trade-off is the
-off is the inter
inter-relation
-relation of RIN
and
and distortion
distortion products to the relaxation
relaxation oscillation
oscillation (approximately
(approximately the
the 33 dB
dB frequency)
frequency) and
and

70 / SPIE
/ SPIEVol
Vol.789
789Optical
OpticalTechnology
Technologyfor
forMicrowave
Microwave Applications
Applications Ill
III (1987)
(1987)
 index. RIN and intermodulation
the modulation index.
the distortion ¡IND)
intermodulation distortion increase the
products increase
(IMD) products nearer
the nearer
the modulation
the modulation frequency is is to the relaxation
to the /,8
oscillation.''**
relaxation oscillation. For the low intensity
For the noise
intensity noise
performance the
system performance
demanded by system the carrier must be
frequency must
carrier frequency one quarter
approximately one
be approximately the
of the
quarter of
oscillation (f
relaxation oscillation /fr << 0.25),
(f/fr see Figure
0.25), see 1.''^ To obtain a device that
Figure 1./,8 that has IMP a
low IMP
has low
portion of
small portion
small of the function (i.e.,
the transfer function index) is
small modulation index)
(i.e., small used, however to
is used
optimize the
optimize reduce the
signal and reduce
the signal RIN, aa large
the RIN, index is
modulation index
large modulation trade
required.^ Thus aa trade
is required.
off between
off between system linearity and noise performance
system noise
and system occur. A noise loading
must occur.
performance must tech-
loading tech-
nique such as
nique such as Noise Power Ratio (NPR) can be
(NPR) can used to
be used determine the
to determine optimum operating
the optimum of
point of
operating point
the (Figures 22 and
the system (Figures .10 Since
and 3)3).^-^ the dynamic
Since the range of
dynamic range an optical
of an optical system is function
the function
is the
of several inter
of several phenomena this
-related phenomena
inter-related allows optimization of the
test allows
this test processes
competing processes
the competing
between RIN, index, and
modulation index,
RIN, modulation non-linearities
and non over the
-linearities over full bandwidth by
the full the
changing the
by changing
input to
bias and the RF input
laser bias
laser to achieve the largest
achieve the NPR.
largest NPR.

20
20 -100
-100

DC-PBH LASER
DC -PBH LASER RELAXATION
RELAXATION
OSCILLATION
OSCILLATION
10-
10 FREQUENCY
FREQUENCY
-110
- -110

MODULATED AMPLITUDE
-120 -5
1C
CO
3.
SIGNAL LU
TO - c/2
-10 - SIGNAL DISTORTION -130 I
TO RATIO / \I LU
a
NOISE ra
h-
RATIO i

\
-20 I -140 1

'v \ RELATIVE
RELATIVE
-INTENSITY
INTENSITY
-30
- 30
THIRD-ORDER
THIRD -ORDER
INTERMODULATION
INTERMODULATIO
DISTORTION
DISTORTION
X
< NOISE
NOISE
-150
- -150

0.5)
(OMD - 0.51
10MD
-40 I I i I_____II I 1 -160
160
- 40
0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75
1.75 2.00
2.00
f/fr
FREQUENCY, 11ír
NORMALIZED FREQUENCY,

1.
Figure 1. Interrelationships of
Interrelationships Modulated Parameters
Direct Modulated
of Direct

the dynamic
Maximizing the range of
dynamic range maximizing the
requires maximizing
system requires
of aa system signal as
the signal as
well as
as well
contributions. Maximum signal
minimizing the noise contributions. is obtained thru high power
signal is effi-
lasers, effi-
power lasers,
cient pigtailing,
cient pigtailing, low losses, and
optical losses,
low optical responsivity (quantum
high responsivity
and high detectors.
efficiency) detectors.
(quantum efficiency)
Increasing the signal
Increasing the not only
signal not increases the
significantly increases
only significantly the SNR but affords
SNR but greaterfan
affords greater fan-out
-out
potential. Typical
Typical excess insertion for single
losses for
insertion losses optic splitters
fiber optic
single mode fiber are
splitters are
approximately 0.20.2 dB, however the
dB, however decrease in
the decrease signal due
in signal distribution of
to aa distribution
due to power to
of power each
to each
obviously unavoidable
isv obviously
channel is *log(l /n) where
(10*log(l/n)
unavoidable (10 the number
is the
where nn is of channels). The
number of The
decreased received optical power
received optical due to
power due to multiple fan-out
fiber fan
multiple fiber results in
-out results thermal
detector thermal
in detector
dominating RIN
noise and shot noise dominating
noise and IMD.11
RIN and the highest optical output
Ideally the
IMD.H Ideally power
output power
available should be
available used in
be used analog fiber
an analog
in an link;however, the
optic link;however,
fiber optic the transmitted must
power must
transmitted power
bound by linear limits of the
be bound
still be
still fiber as
the fiber Stimulated Brillioun
imposed by Stimulated
as imposed Scattering
Brillioun Scattering
(SBS), (SRS),
Scattering (SRS
Ramen Scattering
(SBS), Stimulated Ramen ),12 any photorefractive
and any
12 and photorefractive optical damage in aa
damage in
modulator.^
wave external modulator.13
guided wave

Exposure radiation can

Exposure to radiation decreased laser
cause decreased
can cause power, increased
output power,
laser output attenu-
fiber attenu-
increased fiber
ation, and decreased detector
ation, sensitivity. 14 ' ^ The
detector sensitivity.14,15 The radiation fiber optic
radiation hardness of fiber links
optic links
proven, however,
has yet to be proven,
has testing has
preliminary testing
however, preliminary that with
demonstrated that
has demonstrated design aa
proper design
with proper
spaceborne fiber
spaceborne plausible. ^ It
fiber optic link maybe plausible.16 It has been shown,14
has been carefully
shown,14 by using carefully
InGaAsP based material with heavy,
grown, inGaAsP
grown, lasers and
doping lasers
heavy, doping can be
detectors can
and detectors which
fabricated which
be fabricated

SPIE Vol.
SPIE Vol 789 Optical Technology for Microwave
Technology for (1987) //
Ill (1987)
Applications III
Microwave Applications 71
 INPUT
INPUT OUTPUT
OUTPUT

BROADBAND
BROADBAND
(FLAT
IFLAT
SYSTEM
SYSTEM
BANDBAS
BANDBASS
t» © SYJ
UN
;TEM
SYSTEM
pirn
UNDER
© NARROW
NARROW
BANDPASS
BANDPASS
(to)
^ POWER
POWER
FREQUENCY) (CHANNEL)
(CHANNEL) DETECTOR
FREDUENCR)
FILTER
FILTER TES
TESTJ
DETECTOR
NOISE SOURCE
NOISE SOURCE FILTER fc
FILTER le

dB j k (T)
dB INPUT
AO INPUT dB
dB '
© | (D)
O
TO
INPUT TO
INPUT
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
DETECTOR
POWER DETECTOR
POWER
NOISE
NOISE
INCREASED

I
INCREASED
BY SYSTEM
BY SYSTEM
NOISE
I I NOISE
I h. II
GAIN
GAIN
—————— —— ————^ j
1L «uu «L •uu 'c
le

r1PR CALIBRATION
NPR OF SYSTEM
CALIBRATION OF GAIN
SYSTEM GAIN

BROADBAND
BROADBAND
{Ci)
BAND C?) SYSTEM
SYSTEM
NARROW
NARROW W
(FLAT
(FLAT SYSTEM
SYSTEM REJECT
REJECT imnrp
UNDER
BANDBASS
BANDBASS POWER
POWER
FREQUENCY)
FREDUENCY) BPF
BPF (NOTCH)
'NOTCH) TEST
TEST
(CHANNEL)
(CHANNEL). DETECTOR
DETECTOR
SOURCE
NOISE SOURCE
NOISE FILTER
FILTER FILTER fc
FILTER Ie

dB
dB ' dB '
dB
NOTCH
INPUT NOTCH
INPUT
——1 |—— NOTCH FILLS
NOTCH FILLS !
NOISE
NOISE
1 1 DUE TO
DUE NON-IDEAL
TO NON IDEAL 1

nn .,
SYSTEM
SYSTEM -

nn
IL ,e lu (IDEAL
HAS
HAS NO
SYSTEM
(IDEAL SYSTEM
NOISE)
NO NOISE)
L
le

NOTCH FILLINGS
NOTCH DUE TO
FILLINGS DUE TO SYSTEM NOISE AND
SYSTEM NOISE NONLINEARITIES
AND NONLINEARITIES

2.
Figure 2. Basic NPR Test Concept
Test Concept

N\
\\\ i THERMAL CONTRIBUTION
THERMAL CONTRIBUTION
TO NPR
/ TO NPR

i rf ///`<\\
\\
NONLINEAR
NONLINEAR
MEASURED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONTRIBUTIONS
NPR TO NPR
TO NPR

INPUT POWER
INPUT (cIBm)
POWER (dBm)

3.
Figure 3. Schematic of NPR Contributors
Schematic

72 / SPIE
72 / SPIEVo%
Vol. 789
789 Optical
Optical Technology III (1987)
Technology for Microwave Applications Ill
 resistant to
are resistant to radiation
radiation levels
levels well
well above
above the
the megarad
megarad level.
level. Additionally
Additionally byby operating
operating
the laser diode
the laser bias levels
diode at high bias levels (producing
(producing high
high current
current densities),
densities), and
and fabricating
fabricating aa
detector
detector with aa small volume these
these components
components even
even more
more resistant
resistant toto radiation.
radiation. Interest-
ingly, operating lasers at
ingly, at aa high
high bias
bias improves
improves their
their noise
noise and
and IMP
IMP performance,
performance, while
while detec-
detec-
tors with small
tors small volumes also
also have
have high
high speed.
speed. Optical fibers can
Optical fibers can be hardened^-* by
be hardened15 by using
single mode,
single silica fiber
mode, pure silica fiber with
with low
low defect
defect centers.
centers. Preirradiating the fibers fibers and
and con-
con-
tinuously maintaining high
high optical
optical power
power densities
densities (photobleaching
(photobleaching with
with greater
greater than
than 11 to
to 55
mw)
mw) have in negligible
have resulted in negligible radiation
radiation damage
damage upup to
to aa megarad
megarad ofof gamma
gamma rays.
rays. Although
limited environmental (especially
limited (especially low
low temperature)
temperature) andand long
long term
term low
low dosage
dosage testing
testing have
have
occurred, the data gathered
occurred, the gathered from
from short
short intense
intense bursts
bursts ofof radiation
radiation are
are very
very encouraging,
encouraging,
especially since
since there is
is an
an annealing
annealing oror "healing"
"healing" of
of the
the high
high level
level radiation
radiation damage
damage over
over
short periods
short of time or
periods of or with photobleaching.
photobleaching.
Optoelectronic Distribution
Applications for
for optoelectronic
Optoelectronic systems
systems include,
include, narrowband
narrowband or or wideband
wideband communication,
communication,
spatial power
spatial power combining, large
large aperture
aperture antennas,
antennas, radar,
radar, navigation
navigation control,
control, conformal
conformal
arrays,
arrays, multiple antennas, antenna
multiple beam antennas, antenna remoting,
remoting, andand adaptive
adaptive phased
phased arrays.
arrays. In In designing
fiber-based
fiber -based phased
phased array
array antennas
antennas the
the full range of
full range of both electrical and and optical
optical architectures
architectures
be configured to
can be to produce
produce thethe optimum
optimum system
system (Figures
(Figures 44 and
and 5).
5). The
The resulting
resulting system
system is
is
an electro-
electro-optical
optical hybird
hybird utilizing
utilizing the
the strong
strong points
points of technologies. The full
of both technologies. full
of distribution schemes;
spectrum of schemes; carrier,
carrier, intermediate
intermediate frequency,
frequency, oror baseband
baseband distribution,
distribution,
may be
be implemented optically for for transmitting
transmitting signals
signals (Figuré
(Figure 6).
6). Wavelength division multi
Wavelength division multi--
plexing 17 (WDM)
plexing17 (WDM) allows aa number
number of
of signals
signals to
to be
be sent
sent down
down aa single
single fiber
fiber by
by combining
combining dif-
dif-
ferent optical wavelengths. WDM is is analagous
analagous toto electronic
electronic frequency
frequency division
division multiplexing.
multiplexing.
However, one is
However, one is mixing light
light ("colors")
( "colors ")ofofdifferent
differentfrequencies.
frequencies. The
The actual
actual multiplexing
multiplexing and
demultiplexing
demultiplexing isis achieved by by using
using gratings,
gratings, prisims,
prisims, coatings,
coatings, lens,
lens, or
or beam
beam splitters.
splitters. The
The
information capacity of
information of the
the fiber
fiber is
is increased
increased byby the
the number
number ofof wavelengths
wavelengths multiplexed
multiplexed
together. In
together. In addition to to wavelength division
division multiplexing
multiplexing as as an
an architectural
architectural component,
component, the
the
three principle optical
three optical modulation
modulation/demodulation
/demodulation techniques; direct, external,
techniques; direct, external, and
and coherent
coherent
are optimum architecture
are options. The optimum architecture can
can be
be configured
configured byby performing
performing trade
trade-offs of elec-
-offs of elec-
tronic multiplexing,
tronic optical multiplexing,
multiplexing, optical multiplexing, distribution
distribution schemes,and
schemes,and optical
optical modulation/
modulation/
demodulation techniques.
techniques. TheThe principle
principle of
of operation
operation and
and advantages
advantages ofof the
the different
different optical
optical
modulation/demodulation
modulation /demodulation techniques
techniques contribute significantly
significantly to to the
the system
system performance.
performance.

FIBER MULTIPLEXING
FIBER MULTIPLEXING
WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

°H^- y LASER
LASER

M-H^si
DETECTOR
DETECTOR

u
S1
x ( JI FIBER
FIBER '` 16
\^J \> 0
S1
'
SIGNAL '——•
SIGNAL ^ SIGNAL
SIGNAL
IN
IN OUT
OUT

HIP—
S2 I——1 Xi
Q —
1 D—|>-oo
D
SZ

OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL MUXING

ELECTRONIC MULTIPLEXING M

Figures
Figures 44 and
and 5.
5. Architectural
Architectural Trades for Optimum Configuration
Trades for

The
The advantages of direct injection
injection current
current modulation
modulation of
of laser
laser diodes
diodes are
are low
low microwave
microwave
drive
drive power,
power, low coupling loss,
loss, small
small size,
size, simplicity
simplicity of
of technique,
technique, and
and multiple
multiple longitu-
longitu-
dinal lasers. The
dinal mode lasers. The major comings of
major short comings of direct modulation are
are the
the competing
competing processes
processes
of
of minimizing laser relative
minimizing laser relative intensity noise (RIN) while
noise (RIN) while maximizing
maximizing linearity
linearity and
and frequency
frequency
response. As carrier frequency
As the RF carrier frequency approaches
approaches the
the resonance
resonance frequency
frequency ofof the
the laser
laser (for
(for
maximum bandwidth),
bandwidth), the
the laser
laser RIN
RIN and
and nonlinearities
nonlinearities increase
increase (Figure
(Figure 1).
1). Similarly,
Similarly, asas
higher indices are
higher modulation indices are used
used to
to decrease
decrease the
the intensity
intensity noise,
noise, the
the nonlinearities
nonlinearities

SPIE Vol.
SPIE Vol.789
789Optical
OpticalTechnology
Technologyfor
forMicrowave
MicrowaveApplications
ApplicationsIIIIll(1987)
(1987)
/ / 73
73
 Classes of
Classes of Architectures
id uisirmu
Baseband uon
Distribution ^^
---"' \ J DATA

o
DATA MOD/
DEMOD

CARRIER

Intermediate Frequency
Frequency and
and
Local
Local Oscillator
Oscillator Distribution
FUNCTIONAL
FUNCTIONAL __^ FIBER
FIBER FUNCTIONAL
FUNCTIONAL
MODULES
MODULES f^\ MODULES
MODULES
\ J IF IF ANTENNA
ANTENNA
ELEMENT
ELEMENT

o
DATA MOD/ UP/
DOWN
DEMOD CONVERTER'
LO

Carrier
Carrier Distribution

DATA MOD/
DEMOD
o
MODULATED CARRIER

Figure 6.
6. Architectural Trades for
Architectural Trades for Optimum Configuration
Configuration

increase. High laser RIN

RIN (typically
(typically greater
greater than
than -130
-130 dB
dB/Hz) is aa problem for
/Hz) is for high
high dynamic
dynamic
range,
range, low phase
phase noise systems,
systems, because
because RIN
RIN manifests
manifests itself
itself as
as system
system residual
residual phase
phase noise.
noise.
modulation, by
Direct modulation, by virtue
virtue of
of its
its simplicity,
simplicity, is
is the
the first
first choice
choice for
for the
the distribution
distribution
technique if it
technique if it meets system requirements.
meets the system requirements.
External modulation utilizes
External utilizes aa separate
separate optical
optical modulator
modulator based
based onon one
one of
of the
the following
following
effects: the
the electro-
electro-optic,18 acousto-optic,
optic,18 acousto- magneto-optic, electro-
optic, magneto-optic, electro-absorption, Franz-
absorption, Franz -
Keldysh, or the
Keldysh, the quantum
quantum confined
confined Stark
Stark effect.19
effect.^ TheThe major advantage
advantage of of external
external modulation
modulation
is that it
is it separates
separates the
the photon
photon generation
generation and
and modulation
modulation which
which allows
allows independent
independent opti-
opti-
mization of both parameters. In In an
an external modulator the
external modulator the intermodulation distortion
distortion pro-pro-
ducts (IMP) and available signal
ducts (IMP) signal are
are aa function
function of the modulator transfer
of the transfer function
function and
and the
the
modulation
modulation index.1
index) The laser is
The laser is operated without modulation (cw) (cw) inin aa region
region that
that has
has low
low
noise. The modulation index index only
only affects
affects the
the IMP's
IMF's and
and available
available signal,
signal, not
not the
the laser
laser RIN;
RIN;
thus the competition between
thus between RIN
RIN and
and third
third order
order intermodulation
intermodulation products
products doesn't
doesn't exist
exist as as it
it
does in direct modulation. Externally modulated
modulated RF
RF links
links promise
promise RIN
RIN less
lessthan
than-160
-160dBdB/Hz,
/Hz,
noise, high bandwidths,
low phase noise, bandwidths, and
and use
use multiple
multiple longitudinal
longitudinal mode
mode lasers.
lasers. The disadvan-
are the
tages are the additional
additional weight,
weight, drive
drive power
power optical
optical damage
damage and,
and, 2 2-6 dB additional
-6 dB additional insertion
insertion
loss derived from
loss from the
the external
external modulator.
modulator. The
The added
added insertion
insertion loss
loss decreases
decreases thethe signal
signal thus
thus
decreasing the
the SNR.
SNR. The
The additional
additional attenuation
attenuation ofof the
the modulator
modulator and
and the
the small
small modulatio20
modulation
index required for
index required for low IMP
IMP performance areare the
the most
most significant
significant parameters
parameters to to optimize.
optimize.^0
However, tremendous advantage
However, the tremendous advantage ofof separating
separating the
the RIN
RIN and
and IMP
IMP relationship
relationship makemake external
external
modulation more attractive thanthan direct
direct modulation
modulation from
from aa noise
noise performance
performance stand
stand point.
point.
The
The added
added complexity andand relative
relative immaturity system^ 1 are
immaturity of a coherent system21 are generally
generally a
strong deterrents
strong deterrents forfor using this modulation
using this technique for
modulation technique for first
first generation
generation phased
phased array
array
antennas. TheThe advantages of of coherent
coherent systems
systems however
however are;
are; aa 14
14 to
to 20
20 dB
dB increased
increased receiver
receiver
sensitivity, choice of FM
sensitivity, choice FM and
and PM
PM (phase
(phase modulation)
modulation) formats,
formats, and
and frequency
frequency division
division multi-
multi-
plexing.
plexing. The 14 to 20
The 14 20 dB increase
increase inin sensitivity
sensitivity results
results in
in an
an increased
increased SNR
SNR or
or fanout
fanout capa-
capa-
bility.
bility. However it appears that
However it that for
for aa phased
phased array
array antenna
antenna the
the benefits
benefits ofof such
such aa system
system may
may
be out-weighted
be out -weighted byby the
the disadvantages. Coherent communications require
Coherent communications require narrow linewidth
linewidth
transmitters, polarization and
transmitters, and wavefront
wavefront matching,
matching, high
high local
local oscillator
oscillator power,
power, laser
laser fre-
fre-
quency
quency stabilization, feedback and
stabilization, and various feedback and control
control circuits.
circuits. tight performance
These tight performance
criterion must
criterion be maintained over
must be over aa long
long period
period of
of time
time and
and SNR
SNR penalties
penalties are
are assessed
assessed for
for
failure to
failure to sufficiently meet or or maintain the
the requirements.
requirements. Problems
Problems associated
associated with
with external
external
and
and direct
direct modulation techniques stillstill remain,
remain, however
however there
there are
are additional
additional stringent
stringent
requirements for
requirements for the
the optical carrier
carrier such
such as
as polarization
polarization matching,
matching, narrow
narrow linewidths,
linewidths, and
and
laser
laser wavelength control.
control.

74 / SPIE
/ SPIEVol 789
Vol. Optical
789 Technology
Optical forfor
Technology Microwave Applications
Microwave 111(1987)
Applications III (1987)
 Constrained-Feed
Constrained -Feed Phased
Phased Array

An example
example ofof on
on optoelectronic
optoelectronic phased
phased array antenna
antenna architecture
architecture using
using an
an externally
externally
modulated laser
laser is
is described for
for aa constrained
constrained feed
feed array
array antenna.
antenna. Constrained-feed
Constrained -feed array
technology isis where each individual
individual antenna
antenna element
element isis fed
fed by
by aa discrete
discrete channel
channel transmission
transmission
line. One for aa discrete
One concept for discrete constrained
constrained feed
feed fiber
fiber-optic
-optic distribution system
system isis to
to
couple aa modulated
optically couple modulated microwave
microwave signal
signal via
via aa fiber
fiber-optic cable from
-optic cable from aa signal
signal proces-
proces-
sing
sing unit
unit to
to and from each antenna element (Figure
and from (Figure 7).
7). Initially,
Initially, the
the intensity
intensity ofof aa CW
CW
laser diode
laser is modulated to
diode is to form
form aa microwave
microwave envelope
envelope (RF(RF carrier
carrier frequency)
frequency) onon the
the optical
optical
carrier using an external modulator.
carrier modulator. Data
Data isis impressed
impressed on this optical
on this optical signal
signal through
through use use of
a switched optical
a optical delay line
line made
made up
up of
of discrete
discrete delays
delays allowing
allowing phase
phase modulation
modulation of of the
the
envelope. This
carrier envelope. signal is
This optical signal is then
then split
split by a star
star divider, delayed
delayed byby aa multi-
multi-
state optical
state optical delay line to to achieve
achieve microwave
microwave beam
beam steering,
steering, and
and distributed
distributed via
via aa fiber
fiber
cable to each transmit
cable transmit element.
element. TheThe discrete optical delays
discrete optical delays maybe fabricated
fabricated from
from wave
wave
guides of in-
guides in-diffused
diffused lithium
lithium niobate
niobate or
or discrete lengths of
discrete lengths of fiber.
fiber. The phase modulation
(data modulation)
(data modulation) and the phase delays to
and the to achieve beam
beam forming
forming and
and steering
steering are
are accomplished
accomplished
similar if not identical
by similar identical methods.
methods. The transmit module
The module at the antenna consists
consists of of aa
simple
simple optical which recovers
optical detector which recovers the
the phase
phase shifted,
shifted, phase-
phase-shift- (PSK) signal.
shift- keyed (PSK) signal.
The optical
The signal then
optical signal then injection
injection locks
locks either
either aa silicon
silicon (IMPATT)22,23
(IMPATT) 22 '23 or
or aa GaAs
QaAs MESFET
MESFET MMIC
MMIC
oscillator signal
oscillator signal which,
which, upon
upon amplification,
amplification, drives
drives aa monolithic
monolithic microstrip
microstrip antenna
antenna
element. 24 GaAs MESFET's may
element.24 may be
be used
used for
for optical
optical detection
detection andand oscillator
oscillator control
control since
since the
the
device's oscillatory dynamics
dynamics are
are modified
modified through
through photo-
photo-induced changes in
induced changes in the
the internal
internal
carrier densities.2D
carrier densities. ^ Photo
Photo-induced
-induced injection
injection locking
locking also
also significantly
significantly improves the the noise
noise
performance
performance of MESFET oscillators.25
oscillators. 2 ^ Additionally,
Additionally, the the injected
injected signal
signal may
may be
be aa subharmonic
subharmonic
of the
of the oscillator's frequency,
frequency, thereby
thereby reducing
reducing the
the modulation
modulation frequency
frequency requirements
requirements of of the
the
fiber
fiber link.

PHASE
SHIFTER
STAR
STACK
DIVIDER SINGLE

"« SK™ ""'

SINGLE
I AOCD
LASER MODE
MODE
DIODE INTENSITY DATA FIBERS
FIBERS
MODULATOR

I- 1- QPSK
OPSK
1-_

CARRIER
CARRIER ft I V MODULATOR
MODULATOR
OSCILLATOR—»jj
OSCILLATOR [
BEAM
FLEXIBLE
FLEXIBLE CONTROL
FIBER BUNDLE CHANNELS

ANTENNA

RADIATING
ELEMENTS

DETECTOR AMPLI IER

STACK STACK

Figure 7.
7. Concept
Transmit Array Concept

The
The advantages
advantages of
of this type of
this type of array
array feeding
feeding arise
arise from
from thethe transmission
transmission medium as was
medium as was
mentioned
mentioned earlier,
earlier, while
while the short comings
the short comings are
are attributed
attributed toto the
the detectors
detectors and
and lasers which
lasers which
convert the
convert the electronic signals
signals toto optical
optical signals
signals and
and vice
vice versa.
versa. Additionally
Additionally the
the number
number ofof
phase shifters, control
phase shifters, control lines,
lines, and
and interconnects
interconnects for
for either
either a a electro
electro-optic or GaAs
-optic or GaAs MMIC
MMIC
phase shifter in the constrained
phase shifter constrained fed
fed arrays
arrays become
become very
very large.
large.

SP/£
SPIE Vol.
Voi 789 Optical Technology for Microwave
Technology for Microwave Applications III
Ill (1987)
(1987) // 75
 Conclusions

Presently the link noise contributions

contributions and
and insertion
insertion losses
losses are for analog
are large for
optical systemsl
optical systems^- however with the
the broad
broad use
use of
of fiber
fiber optics
optics for
for telecommunications
telecommunications manymany
problems are
problems are being solved
solved by
by the
the commercial
commercial sector.
sector. There
There are
are several
several architectural
architectural andand
performance that fiber
performance advantages that fiber based
based phased
phased arrays
arrays potentially
potentially offer
offer the
the RF
RF Systems
Systems
Engineer. Presently, fielding
Engineer. Presently, fielding phased
phased array
array antennas
antennas is
is difficult
difficult because
because ofof the
the cost
cost asso-
asso-
ciated with integrating and
ciated and testing
testing large
large numbers
numbers of
of array
array elements.
elements. Large
Large array
array antennas
antennas
only become
will only become practical
practical when
when radiating
radiating elements,
elements, phase
phase shifters
shiftersandandtransmission
transmission/control
/control
lines
lines are
are monolithic and can
can be
be assembled
assembled automatically.
automatically. Exciting
Exciting future possibilities
include the
include the optical signal
signal processing,
processing, monolithic
monolithic integration
integration of
of the
the optoelectronic
optoelectronic trans-
trans-
receivers and
mitters and receivers and the
the subsequent
subsequent integration
integration with
with their
their MMIC
MMIC electronic
electronic counterparts.
counterparts.
Such
Such monolithic integration
integration of
of the
the signal
signal distribution,
distribution, data
data modulation,
modulation, phase
phase shifting,
shifting, and
and
devices on
MMIC electronic devices on the
the same
same GaAs
GaAs substrate
substrate may
may promise
promise to
to make
make manufacturing,
manufacturing, inte-
inte-
gration, array antennas
gration, and test of phased array antennas easier
easier and
and more
more viable.
viable.
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SPIE Vol. 789

SPIE Vol. 789 Optical
OpticalTechnology
Technologyfor
forMicrowave
MicrowaveApplications
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(1987)/ / 77
77