Photonics for microwave measurements

TLDR

Photonic‑assisted microwave measurements offer wide frequency coverage, large instantaneous bandwidth, low frequency‑dependent loss, and immunity to electromagnetic interference, and have been extensively studied recently. This article reviews recent advances in photonic microwave measurements, covering spectrum analysis, instantaneous frequency measurement, channelization, Doppler shift, angle‑of‑arrival detection, time‑frequency analysis, compressive sensing, phase‑noise measurement, and discusses future prospects with photonic integrated circuits and software‑defined architectures. The review includes a discussion of photonic microwave radar as a functional measurement system and summarizes the various photonic measurement methods. The performance of photonic measurement solutions is evaluated and compared with electronic solutions. Image included.

Abstract

Abstract As an emerging topic, photonic‐assisted microwave measurements with distinct features such as wide frequency coverage, large instantaneous bandwidth, low frequency‐dependent loss, and immunity to electromagnetic interference, have been extensively studied recently. In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in photonic microwave measurements, including microwave spectrum analysis, instantaneous frequency measurement, microwave channelization, Doppler frequency‐shift measurement, angle‐of‐arrival detection, time–frequency analysis, compressive sensing, and phase‐noise measurement. A photonic microwave radar, as a functional measurement system, is also reviewed. The performance of the photonic measurement solutions is evaluated and compared with the electronic solutions. Future prospects using photonic integrated circuits and software‐defined architectures to further improve the measurement performance are also discussed. image