Analytical model and figures of merit for filtered Microwave photonic links

This paper was published in OPTICS EXPRESS and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.19.019758. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under lawThe concept of filtered Microwave Photonic Links is proposed in order to provide the most general and versatile description of complex analog photonic systems. We develop a field propagation model where a global optical filter, characterized by its optical transfer function, embraces all the intermediate optical components in a linear link. We assume a non-monochromatic light source characterized by an arbitrary spectral distribution which has a finite linewidth spectrum and consider both intensity modulation and phase modulation with balanced and single detection. Expressions leading to the computation of the main figures of merit concerning the link gain, noise and intermodulation distortion are provided which, to our knowledge, are not available in the literature. The usefulness of this derivation resides in the capability to directly provide performance criteria results for complex links just by substituting in the overall closed-form formulas the numerical or measured optical transfer function characterizing the link. This theory is presented thus as a potential tool for a wide range of relevant microwave photonic application cases which is extendable to multiport radio over fiber systems. © 2011 Optical Society of America.The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support given by the Research Excellency Award Program GVA PROMETEO 2008/092.Gasulla Mestre, I.; Capmany Francoy, J. (2011). Analytical model and figures of merit for filtered Microwave photonic links. Optics Express. 19(20):19758-19774. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.19.019758S1975819774192