Microwave Signal Processing over Multicore Fiber

Sergi García,Salvador Sales,Ivana Gasulla,Javier Hervás,David Barrera

doi:10.3390/photonics4040049

Sergi García, Salvador Sales + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics4040049

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Journal: Photonics	Publication Date: Dec 8, 2017
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universitat Politècnica de València

Abstract

We review the introduction of the space dimension into fiber-based technologies to implement compact and versatile signal processing solutions for microwave and millimeter wave signals. Built upon multicore fiber links and devices, this approach allows the realization of fiber-distributed signal processing in the context of fiber-wireless communications, providing both radiofrequency access distribution and signal processing in the same fiber medium. We present different space-division multiplexing architectures to implement tunable true time delay lines that can be applied to a variety of microwave photonics functionalities, such as signal filtering, radio beamsteering in phased array antennas or optoelectronic oscillation. In particular, this paper gathers our latest work on the following multicore fiber technologies: dispersion-engineered heterogeneous multicore fiber links for distributed tunable true time delay line operation; multicavity devices built upon the selective inscription of gratings in homogenous multicore fibers for compact true time delay line operation; and multicavity optoelectronic oscillation over both homogeneous and heterogeneous multicore fibers.

Highlights

The addition of the spatial dimension to the portfolio of optical multiplexing technologies has been welcomed by the optical communications community as a promising solution to the capacity saturation of conventional single-mode fibers (SMFs) [1]
Different Space-Division Multiplexing (SDM) technologies have been investigated over the last few years including either multicore fibers (MCFs) [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26], few-mode fibers (FMFs) [27] or a combination of both [28]
Optical devices built upon the inscription of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) in single-core single-mode fibers have been widely investigated as dispersive 1D (1-dimensional) sampled delay lines [43], where the use of the

Summary

Introduction

The addition of the spatial dimension to the portfolio of optical multiplexing technologies has been welcomed by the optical communications community as a promising solution to the capacity saturation of conventional single-mode fibers (SMFs) [1]. With the premise of reducing size, weight, power consumption and cost, the field of Microwave Photonics (MWP) moves towards the integration of the different photonic processing and distribution elements. In this sense, photonic integrated circuits (where processing components/subsystems are integrated in monolithic or hybrid photonic circuits) could be considered as a “vertical integration”, while the use of SDM fiber-distributed technologies could be considered as a “horizontal integration”, that is, integration in a distributed way.

General

Sampled Delay Line Operation over a Heterogeneous MCF Link

Core design parameters and computed fiber characteristics of the designed

Sampled Delay Line Operation over a Homogeneous MCF Multicavity Device

Multiloop Optoelectronic Oscillation over a Multicore Fiber

Experimentaloscillation oscillation spectra spectra of aamulti-cavity

Conclusions