High-order Sampling Techniques of Aliased Signals for Very Long Baseline Interferometry

Abstract

ABSTRACTRadio frequency (RF) direct sampling is a technique used to sample RF signals that are higher than the sampling rate, without the use of a frequency converter and an anti-aliasing filter. In the case of geodetic VLBI, the RF frequency is at most 9 GHz. Recently, a digital sampler with high sensitivity at RF frequencies greater than 10 GHz was developed. The sampler enables us to evaluate the use of the RF direct sampling technique in geodetic VLBI. RF direct sampling has the potential to make the system simple and stable because, unlike a conventional system, analog frequency converters are not used. We have developed two sets of RF direct sampling systems and operated them on Kashima and Tsukuba baseline (about 50 km length) in Japan. At first, we carried out the VLBI experiment only for X band (8 GHz) signals and successfully got the first fringes. Aliased signals could be discriminated through correlation processing. Then, we adopted RF direct sampling for mixed signals, i.e., S band (2 GHz) and X band signals are combined with each other to make a geodetic VLBI observation. We carried out a 24 hr geodetic VLBI session on 2011 October 19 and succeeded in fringe detection for both S and X bands. After correlation processing, baseline analysis was carried out and we got results consistent with those obtained by conventional VLBI.