Photonic Beamformer Receiver With Multiple Beam Capabilities

Abstract

A multiple-beam photonic beamforming receiver is proposed and demonstrated. The architecture is based on a large port-count demultiplexer and fast tunable lasers to achieve a passive design, with independent beam steering for multiple beam operation. A single true time delay module with four independent beams is experimentally demonstrated, showing extremely smooth RF response in the -band, fast switching capabilities, and negligible crosstalk.