RF/MICROWAVE FIBER OPTIC DELAY FOR COUNTERMEASURES SYSTEMS

THE PROJECT DEFINES THE DESIGN OF COHERENT RF/MICROWAVE FIBER OPTIC DELAY CIRCUITS AND A MEMORY/DELAY DESIGN WHICH FUNCTIONALLY REPLACES THE DRFM WITH IMPROVED LINEAR PERFORMANCE. FIBER OPTIC TECHNOLOGY OFFERS THE CAPABILITY TO PROCESS SIGNALS AND GENERATE COHERENT ECM TECHNIQUES. FIBER OPTIC DESIGNS OFFER CAPABILITY AGAINST SIMULTANEOUS SIGNALS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DELAY, BANDWIDTH, LINEARITY, AND LOSSES INHERENT IN THE TECHNOLOGY, WHERE HARDWARE CAN BE MADE RELATIVELY SMALL AND INEXPENSIVE. THE APPROACH MODULATES A HIGH SPEED LASER DIODE AT THE 1310 NM WAVELENGTH WITH THE RF/MICROWAVE SIGNAL, THE EMISSION COUPLES INTO SINGLE MODE OPTICAL FIBER DELAY LINES PROGRAMMED USING OPTIC SWITCH NETWORKS, AND THE SIGNAL IS RECOVERED USING A BROADBAND PHOTODIODE. THE DELAY CONFIGURATIONS CONSIDERED INCLUDE VARIABLE SERIAL DELAY, PARALLEL TARGET DELAY, AND RECIRCULATING MEMORY DELAY LOOPS. THE CAPABILITIES ARE COMBINED INTO A ROBUST ARCHITECTURE FOR ECM SYSTEMS. THE PROJECT EXAMINES ECM REQUIREMENTS AND DRFM PERFORMANCE; DEVELOPS ALTERNATE APPROACHES FOR ANALOG FIBER OPTIC MEMORY/DELAY; CONDUCTS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY SURVEYS; PERFORMS DESIGN AND EVALUATION; CONDUCTS A RISK/PERFORMANCE TRADE-OFF; AND DEFINES A PHASE II PROTOTYPE DESIGN PLAN.