Miniaturized RF over Fiber using Photonic Integrated Circuits

Currently deployed DOD RF-over-fiber systems are hardwired into large platforms, such as ships, submarines, or buildings. The type and size of hardware used (hard wiring, with local power supply and large electronic control boxes) is not suitable for easy and quick deployment by warfighters in tactical situations. Thus, this program looks to exploit full advantages of RF-over-fiber, in situations where the antenna unit can be maintained passive or entirely powered by light received through the fiber optic cable, from the central site. Deploying of simple, lightweight fiber optical cables and miniature microwave transceiver modules will make this solution work in every mission. Another key benefit of this approach is the antenna unit can be placed in locations with no access to DC power, or in very EMI exposed locations, where the addition of an electrical connection would lead to interference with the received RF signal. We will leverage our existing photonic integrated circuit development, to create the most efficient, lowest size, weight and power (SWaP) modules for the full RF-over-fiber optical link.