Abstract
We propose, for the first time to our knowledge, a software-defined reconfigurable microwave photonics signal processor architecture that can be integrated on a chip and is capable of performing all the main functionalities by suitable programming of its control signals. The basic configuration is presented and a thorough end-to-end design model derived that accounts for the performance of the overall processor taking into consideration the impact and interdependencies of both its photonic and RF parts. We demonstrate the model versatility by applying it to several relevant application examples.
Highlights
Microwave photonics (MWP), the discipline that brings together the worlds of radiofrequency (RF) engineering and optoelectronics [1,2], has attracted great interest from both the research community and the commercial sector over the past 30 years and is set to have a bright future [3]
A radically different approach that we propose in this paper is to design a software defined reconfigurable MWP signal processor architecture that can be integrated on a chip and is capable of performing all the main functionalities by suitable programming of its control signals
A generic layout of the software-defined MWP signal processor architecture is illustrated in Fig. 1, where we show its operation over an arbitrary input RF signal
Summary
Microwave photonics (MWP), the discipline that brings together the worlds of radiofrequency (RF) engineering and optoelectronics [1,2], has attracted great interest from both the research community and the commercial sector over the past 30 years and is set to have a bright future [3]. A radically different approach that we propose in this paper is to design a software defined reconfigurable MWP signal processor architecture that can be integrated on a chip and is capable of performing all the main functionalities by suitable programming of its control signals. This is inspired, in part, by the flexibility of software-radio [23] and digital signal processors, where a common hardware is shared by multiple functionalities through a software-defined approach (or programmability), leading to significant cost reduction in the hardware fabrication.
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