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Abstract
Real-time tracking of a waveform frequency content is essential for detection and analysis of fast rare events in communications, radar, radio astronomy, spectroscopy, sensing etc. This requires a method that can provide real-time spectrum analysis (RT-SA) of high-speed waveforms in a continuous and gap-free fashion. Digital signal processing is inefficient to perform RT-SA over instantaneous frequency bandwidths above the sub-GHz range and/or to track spectral changes faster than a few microseconds. Analog dispersion-induced frequency-to-time mapping enables RT-SA of short isolated pulse-like signals but cannot be extended to continuous waveforms. Here, we propose a universal analog processing approach for time-mapping a gap-free spectrogram −the prime method for dynamic frequency analysis− of an incoming arbitrary waveform, based on a simple sampling and dispersive delay scheme. In experiments, the spectrograms of GHz-bandwidth microwave signals are captured at a speed of ~5×109 Fourier transforms per second, allowing to intercept nanosecond-duration frequency transients in real time. This method opens new opportunities for dynamic frequency analysis and processing of high-speed waveforms.
Highlights
Real-time tracking of a waveform frequency content is essential for detection and analysis of fast rare events in communications, radar, radio astronomy, spectroscopy, sensing etc
Fourier spectral analysis of high-speed timevarying waveforms, from the microwave to the optical domain, is a fundamental tool for a myriad of scientific and technological fields, e.g., for the characterization and manipulation of high-speed signals in communications, radar, and lidar systems[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13], observation of complex wave dynamics[14,15], testing and design of ultrafast instrumentation, as well as for many spectroscopy, imaging, and sensing operations[16], and radio astronomy research[17,18,19,20]. Many of these applications require that the desired frequency-domain information of the signal under test (SUT) is provided in a real-time dynamic fashion, e.g., so that to be able to track and/or manipulate the SUT frequency content as this evolves along the time domain, so-called real-time spectrum analysis (RT-SA)[21,22]
Specific applications that require this stringent set of specifications include detection of radio frequency (RF) interferences or error signals in crowded wireless communications, such as for radar warning and electronic intelligence systems[2,4,5], electronic countermeasure[3], and wideband spectrum sensing[6], as well as for detection of relevant frequency transients in modern biomedical instrumentation[11] and radio astronomy[17,18,19,20]
Summary
Real-time tracking of a waveform frequency content is essential for detection and analysis of fast rare events in communications, radar, radio astronomy, spectroscopy, sensing etc. Recall that in a dispersive medium, different frequency components of an incoming wave travel at different speeds[31], so that each spectral component can be mapped to a different time delay at the output of the medium, obtaining its TM-FT This approach allows one to capture and/or process broadband spectral information, including ultrafast rare/transient events, in real time through available time-domain instrumentation. Using this approach, we intercept and track arbitrary frequency transients with durations down to ~5 ns in real time The performance of this proof-of-the-concept experimental demonstration is already well beyond the potential of current Fourier analysis methods and fulfills important requirements for RT-SA across a wide range of applications in communications, radar, radio astronomy, and others[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26]
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