Broadband microwave measurement based on photonics technologies

Abstract

Microwave measurement refers to the acquisition of parameters of a microwave signal or the identification of properties of an object using microwave-based approaches. Thanks to the broad bandwidth and high speed provided by modern photonics, microwave measurement in the optical domain can provide better performance in terms of bandwidth and speed which may not be achievable using state-of-the-art electronics. In this paper, techniques for photonics-based broadband and high-speed microwave measurement are discussed with an emphasis on the measurement of parameters of a microwave signal and the identification of properties of an object.