OPTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE CONTROL AND DATA PROCESSING OF MICROWAVE AND MILLIMETER ARRAYS

OPTICALLY BASED RF PHASE DISTRIBUTION AND CONTROL TECHNIQUES FOR MICROWAVE AND MILLIMETER-WAVE PHASED-ARRAY SYSTEMS PROVIDE THE ADVANTAGES OF COST EFFECTIVENESS, SYSTEM SIMPLICITY, RAPID PARALLEL PROCESSING, LOW INTERFERENCE, HIGH RADIATION RESISTANCE, AND EFFICIENT 3-D CONNECTIONS. E-TEK WILL INVESTIGATE, ANALYZE, AND DESIGN, AND OPTIMIXE: (1) A PRECISE MICROWAVE RF PHASE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM EMPLOYING AN INNOVATIVE FIBER OPTIC LINK, WITH PHASING ACCURACY OF BETTER THAN 2 DEGREE; (2) VARIOUS OPTICAL BEAM FORM/STEERING TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING OPTICAL CROSSBAR BEAM FORMER (BF), PARTIAL-SUM BF, VECTOR-MATRIX FREQUENCY DOMAIN BF, AND PROGRAMMABLE IMAGE/HOLOGRAPHIC 21 GHZ PHASED-ARRAY IN PHASE I. THE DETAILED DESIGNS OF THE COMPONENTS/DEVICES CAN DIRECTLY LEAD TO PHASE II HARDWARE FABRICATION, VERIFICATION, AND DEMONSTRATION. AT PRESENT, E-TEK HAS 21 GHZ FIBER OPTIC LINK, PHASE SHIFTERS, LOW COST 1XN FIBER DISTRIBUTION COUPLERS, INTEGRATED OPTIC SWITCHES, ETC., TO PRACTICALLY IMPLEMENT THE OPTICALLY CONTROLLED PHASED-ARRAYS WITH ARRAY ELEMENTS OF 1,000 TO 10,000.