Cultural Interference [Microwave Bytes

Abstract

Examines what the author contends are the differences most frequently noted between digital and RF electronics. I have recently encountered another cultural conflict in the technological zone of optical communications— more specifically, the process of “detecting” an optical signal to obtain a microwave output. This is a world where the “RF” is light, and “intermediate frequency” (IF) is gigahertz. Despite having the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum chart and Maxwell‘s equations rammed down my throat from a relatively early age, I have always been fascinated by the “gap” that exists between where microwaves give way to light waves. It is an enormous gap, an unexplored EM ocean, comprising maybe about five orders of magnitude of wavelength.