Optically Beamformed Wideband Array Performance

[EN] Optical beamforming networks (OBFNs) are an interesting alternative for the design of wideband antenna arrays, mainly due to their low losses and weight, their high parallel processing capabilities and their electromagnetic immunity. Nevertheless, for a practical implementation, different techn...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Jofre, Lluis, Stoltidou, Chrysavgi, Blanch, Sebastián, McKenzie, Iain, del Cura, J.M., Mengual Chulia, Teresa|||0000-0001-9609-2234, Vidal, Borja|||0000-0002-0942-3259, Martí Sendra, Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2008
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/202115
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/202115
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Microwave photonics
Optical beamforming
Phased array antennas
Spatial light modulator (SLM)
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Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Optical beamforming networks (OBFNs) are an interesting alternative for the design of wideband antenna arrays, mainly due to their low losses and weight, their high parallel processing capabilities and their electromagnetic immunity. Nevertheless, for a practical implementation, different technological and architectural tradeoffs need to be assessed. In this paper, the performance of an OBFN system is analytically studied and experimentally demonstrated. The study forms part of the optical beamforming network project, a multigroup research project supported by the European Space Agency (ESA). Differently from bulky free-space geometries, the architecture is based on fiber-optic delay lines for the time delays generation and on a spatial light modulator for the phase shifts generation. Experimental results for an X-band prototype are provided, showing beam steering accuracy, multibeam capability, amplitude distribution weighting and wideband operation.