Coherent, phase modulated (PM) fiber-optic link design

2006 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest: pp. 1943-1946.This paper is concerned with a coherent, phase modulated optical link for microwave applications, such as antenna remoting. The optical transmitter employs a low noise high power solid state laser and a sensitive phase modulator. The demodulator/detector in the optical receiver utilizes a newly developed and tested photonic phased locked loop (PPLL). All signal processing, including down-conversion to intermediate frequency (IF) range, is executed in the optical domain. The link design predicts a spurious free dynamic range up to 157 dBHz2/3 and noise figure below 3dB. The requirements on key photonic components to attain these results are described in detail