Low Cost Photonic GPS Oscillator

The performance of a GPS receiver is critically dependent on its internal oscillator clock's long term stability, affecting time-to-first measurement and its short term, phase noise level, since it limits the ultimate precision with which a range incrementcan be recovered. Visidyne proposes to demonstrate that by adding a photonic control loop to an existing low cost RF oscillator both long term drift and short term, i.e., Allan variances can be greatly improved on. The goals for ready time, size/weightand power consumption as well as cost also appear to be within reach. High performance local oscillators with less jitter, lower phase noise are a critical element at both ends of the scale, low signal-to-noise as in a GPS receiver or in the case ofmultiple input signals of large magnitudes to reduce the intermodulation products. DoD needs include advanced digital intercept receivers, commercial uses are in wireless, e.g., cellular phone networks.