Investigation of Key Components of Photonic Beamforming System for Receiving Antenna Array

The performance characteristics of the key components of photonic beamformer for an ultrawideband phased array antenna in the receive mode are investigated. Here we consider beamforming arrangement that can currently provide the required true time delay (TTD) capabilities by using the units and elements available at the market of modern components of fiber-optical telecommunication systems. The essential parameters of accessible analog microwave photonic link’s main components as well as performance characteristics of the complete photonic link assembly have been measured. The links under consideration operate in “intensity modulation direct detection” mode with radio frequency range up to 18 GHz and include a set of transmitters with wavelengths in accordance with 100 GHz ITU grid and external electro-optical Mach-Zehnder modulators, 8-channel DWDM multiplexor, switchable time delay unit based on single mode fiber dispersion usage and common photoreceiver unit. The results of key components’ parameters measuring are given and discussed.