OFC/NFOEC 2008

OThH1.pdf

Microwave Photonics

Jianping Yao
Microwave Photonics Research Laboratory
School of Information Technology and Engineering
University of Ottawa

Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (Ultra-WideBand) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

978-1-55752-855-1/08/$25.00 2008 IEEE

OFC/NFOEC 2008

OThH1.pdf

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Microwave photonics is an interdisciplinary area that studies the
interaction between microwave and optical signals for microwave
and millimeter-wave signal generation, distribution, control and
processing by means of photonics.
The broadband and low loss capability of photonics (optical fiber)
has led to great interest in their use to generate, distribute, control
and process microwave and millimeter-wave signals. Application
areas include
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical processing of microwave signals (filtering, mixing, etc)
Low phase-noise microwave, mm-wave and THz generation
Radio over fiber and UWB over fiber
Photonic ADC

Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (ultra-wideband) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

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OThH1.pdf

Fiber Bragg gratings for Microwave-Photonics

Applications

2 neff = o

Fiber Bragg gratings for

Microwave-Photonics Applications
2 neff = o
3

PD

TLS

PC

EOM

Uniform Fiber Bragg Grating

RF

Uniform fiber grating based delay line

2 n eff =min

2 n eff =max

PD

1
mi ma
n

mi
n

ma

Chirped Fiber Bragg Grating

5
TLS

1 ~ 5

PC

EOM

RF

Chirped fiber grating based delay line

OFC/NFOEC 2008

OThH1.pdf

Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (ultra-wideband) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

Phased-Array Antenna using True Time Delay (TTD)

120

90

60
30

150

180

Example of
beam squint
with electrical
phase shift
technique

3
4

150
-120

Phased Array Antenna System based on phase shifters

120

3
4

Phased Array Antenna System based on TTD

-30
-90
90

-60
60
30

150

Example of beam
squint-free pattern with
0 true-time delay

180

-30

-150
-120

-90

-60

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Optically Controlled Phased Array Beamforming

4
3
1

TLS - tunable laser source, PC - polarization controller, EOM -electrooptic

modulator, FBG - fiber Bragg grating, PD - photodetector

Difficulty: to write the FBGs with very small spacing, especially for the first delay line.
H. Zmuda, R. A. Soref, P. Payson, S. Johns, and E. N. Toughlian, Photonic beamformer for phased array
antennas using a fiber grating prism, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. 9, pp. 241243, Feb. 1997.

Wideband true-time-delay unit for phased array

antenna using discrete-chirped fiber Bragg grating prism

The beam-pointing direction is determined by the grating

spacing difference and is independent of the microwave
frequency.

Y. Liu, J. P. Yao and J. Yang, "Wideband true-time-delay unit for phased array antenna using discrete-chirped
fiber Bragg grating prism," Optics Communications, vol. 207, pp. 177-187, June 2002.

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Wideband true time-delay beamformer

employing a tunable chirped fiber grating prism
Time delay (ps)

150

y = -29.417x + 45682
2

100

R = 0.9961
y = -24.052x + 37347

50

R = 0.9956

0
-50
-100

y = -18.801x + 29198
2

R = 0.9989
y = -13.714x + 21297
2

-150
1548

R = 0.999

1550

1552

1554

1556

1558

Wavelength (nm)

Experimental setup of the tunable chirped fiber grating prism

beamformer for a 4-element wideband phased array antenna system.

Experimental time delay measurements of the tunable fiber

grating delay lines at the microwave frequency of 10 GHz.

Y. Liu and J. P. Yao "Wideband true time-delay beamformer employing a tunable chirped fiber grating prism," OSA Applied Optics,
vol. 42, no. 13, pp. 2273-2277, May 2003.
The difficulty in implementing this system is the fabrication of the 4
chirped gratings. The chirped gratings were fabricated using our
grating tuning techniques: chirped gratings can be obtained from
uniform gratings.

Y. Liu, J. P. Yao, X. Dong and J. Yang, "Tunable chirping

of a fibre Bragg grating without center wavelength shift
using simply supported beam," Optical Engineering vol.
41, pp. 740 - 741, April 2002.

Continuous true-time-delay beamforming

employing a multiwavelength tunable fiber laser source

Multiwavelength spacing tuning

Tunable TTD beamformer configuration

Multiwavelength spacing tunable laser

Time delays versus increased

wavelength spacing.

J. P. Yao, J. Yang and Y. Liu, "Continuous true-time-delay beamforming employing a multiwavelength tunable fiber laser
source," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 14, no.5, pp. 687 -689, May 2002.

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Continuous true-time-delay beamforming for phased array

antenna using a tunable chirped fiber grating delay line

Time delay response when the

chirped FBG is tuned

Tunable TTD beamformer configuration

Y. Liu, J. Yang and J. P. Yao, "Continuous true-time-delay beamforming for phased array antenna using a tunable chirped fiber
grating delay line," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 1172 -1174, August 2002.

Applications
1.

Radar

2. Broadband wireless access networks

BS

Radio over fiber system

OFC/NFOEC 2008

OThH1.pdf

Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (ultra-wideband) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

All-Optical Microwave Signal Processing

Digital signal processing - speed is limited.

-10 dB
-20 dB

Advantages of all-optical microwave filters:

Wideband
Low loss
Light weight
Immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI)

-30 dB
-40 dB
-50 dB

2 GHz

8 GHz

16 GHz

Frequency response of an all-optical

microwave filter

N 1

y[n ] = h[k ] x[n k ] = h[n ] x[n ]

k =0

Finite Impulse Response (FIR) Filter

Optical Delay Line FIR Filter

OFC/NFOEC 2008

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Optical Delay Line Microwave Filter

Optical Delay Line Microwave Filter

Limitation of an Optical Delay Line FIR Filter

Frequency Response (dB)

Frequency Response (dB)

Incoherent detection All-positive coefficients Low-pass filters only

4-tap Lowpass Filter with

All-positive Coefficients [1 1 1 1]

4-tap Bandpass Filter with

Negative Coefficients [1 -1 1 -1]

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Optical Delay Line Microwave Filter

T
Broadband
Optical
Source

R1

R2

R3

R4

Rn

Modulator

RF

PD

Output

Photonic microwave filter using a FBG-based tapped delay line.

Modulator
Optical
Source

b0

1x2
Coupler
RF Input

b1

RF Output

Photonic microwave filter with negative coefficients using differential detection

1.S. Sales, J. Capmany, J. Marti, and D. Pastor, Experimental demonstration of fiber-optic delay line filters with
negative coefficients, Electron. Lett., vol. 31, pp. 1095-1096, Jul. 1995.

Optical Microwave Filter: differential detection

J. Capmany, D. Pastor, A. Martinez, B. Ortega, and S. Sales,

Microwave photonics filter with negative coefficients based on
phase inversion in an electro-optic modulator, Opt. Lett., vol. 28,
pp. 1415-1417, Aug. 2003.

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All-optical microwave bandpass filter with negative

coefficients based on PM-IM conversion
LCFBG 1 (-)

LD 1

A
W
G

EOPM
LD 2

2x1
Coupler

PD

RF
Input
After
Dispersive Device

After
Photodetector

Group
Delay

D=

LCFBG 2 (+)

RF
Output

Amplitude

>0

F. Zeng, J. Wang, and J. P. Yao, "All-optical

microwave bandpass filter with negative
coefficients based on a phase modulator and
linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings," Opt. Lett.,
vol. 30, no. 17, pp. 2203-2205, Sep. 2005.

0
DC

Directly detected by a photodetector

0 + m
0 m

D=

J. Wang, F. Zeng, and J. P. Yao, "All-optical

microwave bandpass filter with negative
coefficients based on PM-IM conversion," IEEE
Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. 17, no.10, pp. 21762178, Oct. 2005.

<0

Group
Delay

Photonic microwave bandpass filter with negative

coefficients using a polarization modulator
45

PC 1

PC 2
Output

TLS

PD

PolM
PMF - based
eleltrical

delay line

RF port

optical

VNA

10

H (f) (dB)

J. P. Yao and Q. Wang, "Photonic

microwave bandpass filter with
negative coefficients using a
polarization modulator," IEEE
Photonics Technology Letters, vol.
19, no. 9, pp. 644-646, May 2007.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-5

10 15 20 25 30 35
f (GHz)

The generation of two complementary microwave

signals based on polarization modulation.

Frequency responses of the two-tap microwave bandpass

filter with one negative coefficient. (Solid curve: experimental
results, Dashed line: simulation results)

11

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Multi-tap photonic microwave filters with arbitrary

positive and negative coefficients using a
polarization modulator and an optical polarizer

10

-20
-30

-10
-20
-30

-40
0

-40

10

10

0
MSR: 11.6 dB

3dB-bandwidth:
1.4 GHz

MSR:
21.5 dB

-10

H(f) (dB)

H(f) (dB)

-10

10
3dB-bandwidth:
1.1 GHz

3dB-bandwidth:
1.1 GHz

MSR:
11.6 dB

H(f) (dB)

-20

f (GHz)

-40
0

10

3-dB bandwidth:
1.4 GHz
MSR: 24 dB

-10
-20
-30

-30

f (GHz)

-40
0

10

10

f (GHz)

f (GHz)

The experimental (solid line) and simulated (dashed line)

frequency responses of the five-tap photonic microwave
bandpass filter with windowing; (a) coefficients (0.37, 0.78,
1, 0.78, 0.37); (b) coefficients (0.37, -0.78, 1, -0.78, 0.37).

The experimental (solid line) and simulated (dashed line)

frequency responses of the five-tap photonic microwave
bandpass filter with even coefficients; (a) coefficients (1, 1,
1, 1, 1); (b) coefficients (1, -1, 1, -1, 1).

Q. Wang and J. P. Yao, "Multi-tap photonic microwave filters with arbitrary positive and negative coefficients using a
polarization modulator and an optical polarizer," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, accepted

All-optical microwave mixing and bandpass

filtering in a radio-over-fiber link
fS

ESA

f LO
Power
combiner

f S + f LO
Load

Phase
Modulator

Multiwavelength
Laser source

Photodetector

25-km SMF Link

PC

-30

-40

fS=3GHz
-50

-20

power (dBm)

Normalized frequency response of H(w) (dB)

-40

-30

fLO-fS

-60

-50

-50

fS+fLO
11.8GHz

-60

f1+f2
11.8GHz

-70
-80

2fLO-fS
2fS

-90

2fLO

-60

-100
-110

2fS+fLO

2fLO-2fS

3fS+fLO

-70

3fS

-40

-120
-130
-140

-70

Span: 3 0 KHz; ResBW: 270 Hz

-80

-80

-50

-60

Zoom in at 11.8 GHz

with span 30 KHz

fLO =8.8GHz

-10

Power (dBm)

H(f) (dB)

...

...

10

-90

-90

10
15
Frequency (GHz)

(a)

20

25

-100
0

8
10
12
frequency (GHz)

14

(b)

16

18

20

-100

8
10
12
Frequency (GHz)

14

16

18

20

(c)

(a) Filter frequency response, (b) mixing output without filtering, (c) mixing output with filtering.
F. Zeng and J. P. Yao, "All-optical microwave mixing and bandpass filtering in a radio-over-fiber link," IEEE Photonics
Technology Letters, vol. 17, no 4, April 2005

12

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Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (ultra-wideband) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz

Coupler

Photodetector

f1

RF output

f2

The output of two beat signals applied to a photodetector:

P = E1 (t ) + E2 (t ) = P1 + P2 + 2 P1 P2 cos[2( f1 f 2 )t + (1 2 )]
2

where Es (t) and EL (t) are the two input signals and
f = f f is the RF frequency.
RF

Key problem: phase coherence of the two wavelengths.

Approaches:
1. Optical injection locking
2. Optical phase lock loop
3. Dual wavelengths laser
4. External modulation technique

13

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Photonic generation of microwave

Optical Heterodyning
Optical Signals (~200 THz)
Free-running lasers

RF Signal

Coherent lasers
E1 = A1cos(1 t)

FWHM

frequency jitter

E2 = A2cos(2 t + 2)

Difference Frequency (MHz - GHz)

Photodetector

Photodetector Output

(E1 + E2)2 = (A12 + A22) + A1A2cos((1- 2)t + 2)]

DC term

+ 2
terms

microwave difference term

L. Goldberg, H. F. Taylor, J. F. Weller and D. M. Bloom, "Microwave signal generation with injection locked laser
diodes," Electron Lett., vol. 19, pp. 491-493, 1983.

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Nd:YAG

Optical Phase Lock loop

To PZT

Mixer
Nd:YAG

Loop
Filter

PD

Frequency
synthesiser

Optical output

Offset phase locking Nd: YAG lasers.

K. J. Williams, "6-34 GHz offset phase locking of Nd: YAG 1319 nm nonplanar ring lasers," Electron. Lett.,
vol. 24, pp. 1242-1243, 1989.

Optical Phase Lock loop

Photodetector
Master laser
Phase
detector
Modulator
Slave laser

Optical path
Electrical path

Loop filter

~ Offset generator
Block diagram of a heterodyne optical injection phase-lock loop. When the components in the dotted box is removed, the
system becomes a homodyne optical injection phase-lock loop.
A. C. Bordonaalli, C. Walton and A. J. Seeds, "High-performance phase locking of wide linewidth semiconductor lasers by
combined use of optical injection locking and optical phase-lock loop," J. Lightwave Technol., vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 328-342,
Feb. 1999.

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Optical Phase-Locked Loop

Discriminator-aided, Optical PLL

Output
signal

1, 2

Slave
Externalcavity Laser

RF Signal

Master
External-cavity
Laser

Discriminator-Locked Lasers
Free-running Lasers
FWHM
about
~10s Hz

Photodetector
RF signal at 1- 2

Amp

Phase Lock Loop

frequency jitter < 10s Hz

11.22 GHz operating frequency
Frequency Drift over Time
-30.0

Splitter
free running
with discriminator

-40.0
RF output [dBm]

Active Lowpass Filter

Active
Low-pass
Filter

-50.0

average over 10 traces;

approx. 2 min.

-60.0
-70.0
-80.0
11.224 GHz
-90.0

Frequency Discriminator

11.1

11.15

11.2

11.25

Frequency [GHz]

11.3

11.35
April 14/03

H. Rideout, J. Seregelyi, S. Paquet, and J. P. Yao, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 18, no. 22, pp. 23442346, November 2006.

RF generation using a dual-wavelength fiber ring laser

PC 1

Saturable Absorber
Coupler 2

Pump LD
EDF

Pump Multiplexer
OSA

Circulator 2

Coupler 1

Circulator 1

PC 2

Isolator
Wavelength
Selector

Laser spectrum
analyser

Two wavelengths at the output of the laser

Oscilloscope

Dual-wavelength single-longitudinal
mode fiber ring laser.

Fig.1 (a) Schematic

diagram of the self-tracking
narrow band filter. (b)
Spatial interference pattern
generated by two counterpropagation optical waves.

J. Liu, J. P. Yao, J. Yao and T. H. Yeap "Single longitudinal mode

multi-wavelength fiber ring laser," IEEE Photonics Technology
Letters, vol. 16, no.4, pp.1020-1022, April 2004.

Beating signal

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Photonic Generation of Microwave Signal Using a DualWavelength Single-Longitudinal-Mode Fiber Ring Laser

FBG1

90%

EDFA

10%

OSA

PD

Circulator

Transmission (Reflection) (dB)

FBG2

ESA

Isolator
PC
SOA

Wavelength (nm)

X. Chen, Z. Deng, and J. P. Yao, IEEE Transactions on Microwave

Theory and Techniques, vol. 54, no.2, pp. 804-809, February 2006.

Optical generation and transmission of wideband,

continuously tunable millimeter-wave signals
0
Optical spectrum at the output
of an intensity modulator

MZM

EDFA

With bias to supress the

odd-order side bands

DC bias

PA

25km SSMF
Optical
Electrical

+2

+4

4
-20

-50
dBm, 10dB/division

-40
-50
-60

+4
local
remote

-60

10

20

30

40

1542.45

1542.65

1542.85

1543.05

1543.25

Wavelength, nm, 0.2 nm/division

FBG transmission spectrum

-20

-30

-40

-70
-50
1542.25

-80
-90

1542.45

1542.65

1542.85

1543.05

1543.25

Wavelength, nm, 0.2nm/division

-100

Optical spectrum after the FBG

-110

-70

-40

-60
1542.25

Carrier is removed
by the FBG filter

+2

-40

-30

-30

ESA

-20

-50

FBG transmission
spectrum

OSA
PD

dBm, 10dB/division

4 3 2 1 0 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4

FBG filter
MW
source

dBm, 10dB/division

TLS

-10
10 dB/division

PC

-120
49.9999 49.9999 49.9999 49.9999 49.9999 49.9999
5834
6034
6234
6434
6634
6834

50

frequency, GHz, 10GHz/division

Beating signal at the output of the

photodetector. The frequency is 4 times the
frequency of the original RF signal.

G. Qi, J. P. Yao, et al. "Optical generation and

transmission of wideband, continuously
tunable millimeter-wave signals using an
Comparison of the spectrum of the local external modulation technique," IEEE Trans.
Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 53,
signal and the generated signal.
no.10, October 2005
Frequency, GHz, 2kHz/division

Tunable from 18 GHz to 60 GHz

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Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (ultra-wideband) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

Radio over fiber (RoF)

Reference: The merging of the wireless and fiber worlds by Dalma Novak

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Issues related to the design and

implementing Radio over Fiber networks:
1. Network architecture: ring, bus, tree
2. Radio signal distribution over fiber:
Chromatic dispersion, dynamic range
3. Base station design: low cost, free or low
maintenance

RoF Network architecture

1 2 3

1 2 3

4 5 6

G.H. Smith, D. Novak, C. Lim, A millimeter-wave full-duplex fiber-radio star-tree architecture

incorporating WDM and SCM, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 1650-1652 , Nov. 1998

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Chromatic dispersion induced power penalty

Single Sideband modulation using a dual
port Mach-Zehnder Modulator

= 900

0 +

Single Sideband modulation using a dual port Mach-Zehnder

Modulator

G. H. Smith, D. Novak, Z. Ahmed, Overcoming chromatic-dispersion effects in fiber-wireless systems incorporating external
modulators, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 45, no. 8, pp. 1410 1415, Aug 1997.

Single Sideband modulation using a superstructured

FBG with two narrow transmission band
0

-10
a)
-20

-30
1552.5

Experimental
Theoretical
1553
(nm)

1553.5

1553
(nm)

1553.5

1553
(nm)

1553.5

0
-5

b)

-10
1552.5
0

Configuration of the SSB filter based on a superstructured FBG

with two equivalent phase shifts.

-10

Optical Power
(dBm)

1552.5

-20
-40
-60
1552.5

1553
(nm)

1553.5

c)

-20

Optical spectra of the SSB filter. (a) Transmission

spectrum of the superstructured FBG with two equivalent
phase shifts, (b) Reflection spectrum of a sine-square
apodized uniform FBG and (c) Transmission spectrum of
the SSB filter.

Spectrum of the SSB+C modulated optical signal

S. Blais and J. P. Yao, "Optical single sideband modulation using an ultranarrow dual-transmission-band fiber Bragg
grating," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 18, no. 21, pp. 2230-2232, November 2006.

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UWB over fiber

GPS PCS

Emitted
Power

Bluetooth
802.11 b/g
Cordless phones
Microwave ovens

802.11a

-41.3
dBm/MHz
1. 1.

2. 3.

5.

10.

Advantages of UWB:
FCC regulation on UWB (approved in 2002):
1. Bandwidth greater than 500 MHz or
fractional bandwidth greater than 20%
2. The unlicensed bandwidth: 3.1-10.6 GHz
3. Maximum power density: -41.3 dBm/MHz

1.

High data rate

2.

Reduced multipath fading

3.

Co-exiting with other wireless access

techniques

UWB over fiber

Advantages of using direct-sequence impulse UWB:

1.

Carrier free, without the need for frequency mixers and local oscillators

2.

High multipath resolution

3.

Ultra high precision ranging at the centimeter level

4.

Enhanced capability to penetrate through obstacles

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Why UWB-over-fiber?
By wireless transmission, UWB signals are only limited to a short distance
of a few meters. UWB-over-fiber technology can provide a very promising
solution to integrate local UWB environment into fixed wired networks or
wireless wide-area infrastructures.

UWB Pulse Generation

Gaussian pulse:

s(t ) = exp( t 2 2 )

S ( ) = exp( 2 )

Gaussian monocycle:

ds dt

j S ( )

Gaussian doublet:
Gaussian

d s dt

2 S ( )

monocycle

doublet

Waveform

t (ps)

t (ps)

t (ps)

Spectrum

f (GHz)

f (GHz)

f (GHz)

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Data Sequence

Antenna

EOPM

LD

Normalized frequency response (dB)

An Approach to Ultra-Wideband Pulse Generation

and Distribution over Optical Fiber

PD
SMF Link

PC

Central Station

Access Point

-20

10
Frequency (GHz)

15

-50
FCC Mask for Indoor Comm.

-0.2

-0.3

-40

-60

Power (dBm)

63 ps

-60

2
Amplitude (mV)

Power (dBn)

-0.1

20

Measured frequency response of the proposed UWBover-fiber system.

13.5 GHz
Amplitude (V)

-40

Block diagram of the proposed UWB-over-fiber system.

0.1

-30

0
-2
-4

10.6 GHz

3.1 GHz

1.61
GHz

13.5 GHz

1.99
GHz

-80

40 ps

-6

-80

-70

-90

-8
-0.4
0

100

200
300
time (ps)

400

500

-100
0

5
10
Frequency (GHz)

-10
0

15

100

200
300
time (ps)

400

-100
0

500

5
10
Frequency (GHz)

15

(a) Waveform of the Gaussian doublet pulse, and (b) power spectrum of the shaped 13.5 Gb/s PBRS 27-1 signal obtained at the
end of the fiber link (point B in Fig. 1). Dashed line: FCC spectral mask for indoor applications.
F. Zeng and J. P. Yao, "An approach to ultrawideband pulse generation and distribution over optical fiber," IEEE
Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 823-825, March 2006.

All-Optical UWB pulse generator

Optical Pulse
source
PC

P
t

UFBG

Pump

TLD

OA
Probe

NLF

PD
Circulator
UWB Pulse

TLD: Tunable Laser Diode

PC: Polarization Controller
OA: Optical Amplifier
PD: Photodetector
UFBG: Uniform Fiber Bragg Grating
NLF: Nonlinear Fiber
P: Optical Power
R: Reflectivity
a: Amplitude of electrical pulse

Output
a

Block diagram of the proposed all-optical UWB pulse generator.

F. Zeng and J. P. Yao, All-Optical UWB Pulse Generation Based on XPM and FBG-Based Frequency
Discrimination, post-deadline paper, AP-MWP2006, April 2006, Japan

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Experimental Results
10
Amplitude (mv)

Amplitude (mv)

10
5
0
-5
-10
0

(a) the waveform of a single bit, and (b) the power

spectrum of the modulating signal.

-10
200
time (ps)

400

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3

5
0
-5
-10

0.2

0.1
1556.3

1556.5
1556.7
Wavelength (nm)

1556.9

200
time (ps)

400

200
time (ps)

400

10
Amplitude (mv)

Amplitude (mv)

0.7
Amplitude Reflectivity

0
-5

10

0.8

5
0
-5
-10

200
time (ps)

400

Waveforms of the output pulses, when the wavelengths of the

probe light are (a) 1556.781nm, (b) 1556.717nm, (c) 1556.479nm
(d) 1556.402nm.

The spectrum of the FBG.

F. Zeng and J. P. Yao, "Ultrawideband impulse radio signal generation using a high-speed electrooptic phase modulator
and a fiber-Bragg-grating-based frequency discriminator," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 18, no. 19, pp. 20622064, October 2006.

UWB Pulse Generation based on a

Photonic Microwave Delay Line Filter
1.

It is known that a Gaussian monocycle or doublet is the first- or second-order

derivative of a Gaussian pulse.

2.

Mathematically, the first- and the second-order derivatives can be approximated by

the first- and second-order differences, which can be implemented using a photonic
microwave delay-line filter, with two or three taps, both with one negative tap.
Gaussian
pulse
x (t )

Time delay

x(t )

IM
2 x(t )

+1

-1

x (t )
x (t 2 )

x (t )

x(t )

BBLS: Broadband Light Source

IM: Intensity Modulator

Gaussian
monocycle

+
y (t )

UWB monocycle generation based on a two-tap microwave

delay-line filter with one negative coefficient.

y (t )

UWB doublet generation based on a three-tap delay-line

filter with coefficients [1 -2 1] and a time delay difference of

J. P. Yao, F. Zeng, and Q. Wang, "Photonic generation of Ultra-Wideband signals," IEEE Journal of Lightwave
Technology, vol. 25, no.11, November 2007.

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UWB Monocycle Generation

with a Two-Tap Microwave
Delay-Line Filter:

Amplitude (mV)

6
48 ps

3
0
-3
-6

200

400

600

800

1000

Time (ps)

Power (dBm)

-50
-60
-70

UWB monocycle generation based on a two-tap photonic microwave delayline filter using an SOA. PC: polarization controller, IM: intensity modulator,
EDFA: erbium-doped fiber amplifier, ISO: isolator, SOA: semiconductor
optical amplifier, VOA: variable optical attenuator, AMP: amplifier.

-80
0

10

12

14

Frequency (GHz)

Generated UWB monocycle pulse; (a) the

temporal waveform, and (b) its spectrum.

Q. Wang, F. Zeng, S. Blais, and J. P. Yao, "Optical UltraWideBand monocycle

pulse generation based on cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical
amplifier," Optics Letters, vol. 31, no. 21, pp. 3083-3085, November 2006.

UWB Doublet Generation with a Three-Tap

Microwave Delay-Line Filter:
Gaussian
pulse

LD1
PC

Gaussian
doublet

Polarizer
combiner

LD2

Time delay
device

PolM

PC

PD

y
Polarizer

LD3

45o

PC

UWB doublet generation using a three-tap photonic

microwave delay-line filter with one negative coefficient
based on XGM in an SOA.
0.5

UWB doublet generation using a three-tap photonic microwave

delay-line filter with one negative coefficient based on polarization
modulation in a polarization modulator.

0.5

0.6

0.8
0.4
0.6
0.2
0

0.4

-0.5

-0.5

Amplitude (a.u)

Amplitude (a.u)

Amplitude (a.u)

Amplitude (a.u)

0
0
-0.2
-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
-150

-100

-50

0
Time (ps))

50

= 20 ps

100

150

200

-1
-200

-0.4
-0.6

-1
-200

0.2

-0.2

-150

-100

-50

0
Time (ps))

50

= 60 ps

100

150

200

-1
-200

-0.8

-150

-100

-50

0
Time (ps))

50

= 100 ps

100

150

200

-1
-200

-150

-100

-50

0
Time (ps))

50

100

150

200

= 140 ps

Comparison of an ideal doublet and a doublet generated by using a microwave delay-line filter; solid line: ideal
doublet, circles: doublet generated using the microwave delay-line filter.

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UWB Pulse Generation based on Optical Spectral

Shaping and Frequency-to-Time Mapping
0.008

0.00025

0.007
0.006

Power (mW)

(a)

Power (mW)

0.00020
0.00015
0.00010

(b)

0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002

0.00005

0.001
0.000

0.00000

(a)

1554

1554

1556

1558

1560

1556

1562

1558

1560

1562

Wavelength (nm)

Wavelength (nm)

0.009
0.008

-40

(c)

185ps

0.006

Power (dBm)

Amplitude (mV)

0.007

0.005
0.004
0.003

(d)

-50

-60

-70

0.002
-80

0.001
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Time (ps)

0.00020
0.00015
0.00010

14

(f)

0.005
45 ps

0.004
0.003
0.002

0.00005

0.001
0.00000

0.000

-0.00005

1554

1556

1558

1560

Wavelength (nm)

C. Wang, F. Zeng, and J. P. Yao, "All-Fiber

Ultrawideband pulse generation based on spectral
shaping and dispersion-induced frequency-to-time
conversion," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol.
19, no. 3, pp. 137-139, February 2007.

12

0.006

0.00025

Amplitude (mV)

Power (mW)

(a) UWB pulse generation based on spectral shaping and

frequency-to-time mapping using all-fiber components. (b)
All-fiber spectrum shaper configuration.

10

0.007

0.00030

(e)

0.008

0.00035

(b)

Frequency (GHz)

0.00040

1562

1564

200

400

600

800

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

Time (ps)

All-fiber UWB monocycle pulse generation based on spectral shaping and

frequency-to-time mapping. (a) Spectrum after spectral shaping. (b)
Spectrum of the incident ultrashort pulse. (c) Generated UWB monocycle
pulse. (d) Power spectrum of the generated monocycle pulse. (e)
Spectrum after spectrum shaping. (f) Generated UWB doublet pulse.

Outline

Introduction to Microwave Photonics

Bragg gratings for Microwave Photonics applications
Optically controlled phased array antennas
All-optical microwave signal processing
Photonic generation of microwave, mm-wave and THz
Radio over fiber and UWB (ultra-wideband) over fiber
Photonics ADC
Conclusions

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Photonics ADC
fR

fS

x(nTS )

q (nTS )
y (nTS )

x(t )

Advantages:
1. Modern mode lock laser can produce high-frequency (>10
GHz) periodic sequence of optical pulses with timing jitter
significantly below that of electronic circuitry.
2. The sampling process can be made to be highly linear with
negligible back-coupling between optical sampling pulses
and the electrical signal being sampled.

An Electrooptic Analog-to-Digital Converter

The first photonic ADC was proposed in 1975 by Taylor using MachZehnder interferometer

H. F. Taylor, An electrooptic analog-to-digital converter, Proc. IEEE. vol. 63, no. 10, pp. 1524-1525, Oct. 1975.

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Advantages:
1. Linear in complexity:
each additional bit of
resolution requires an
addition MZ
interferometer.
2. Decoupling of the
analog sampled signal
from the optical
sampling signal.
Drawback:
A limitation of this
approach is that each
additional bit of
resolution
requires a doubling of
the length of the MZ
modulator.

A 4-channel ADC using four MZMs with identical halfwave voltages.

10

11
11

11

00
11
01
11

00
01

00
10

00
00

11
00

quantized s ()

11
10

comparator
output

intensity (au)

A photonic ADC scheme using Mach-Zehnder

modulators with identical half-wave voltages

The operation of the 4-channel photonic ADC. (a) The transfer

functions of the four MZMs; (b) The linear binary code at the
outputs of the comparators; (c) Quantized value (solid) v.s. the
input phase modulation (dotted).

Experimental results. (a) The measured 8 waveforms

corresponding to 8 bias phase shifts; (b) The digitized signal
(solid) and the fitted sinusoidal signal (dashed).

H. Chi and J. P. Yao, A photonic analog-to-digital

conversion scheme using Mach-Zehnder modulators with
identical half-wave voltages, Optics Express, submitted.

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Conclusions

Microwave photonics has compelling benefits for many current

applications (mm-wave and THz generation, broadband
tunable signal processors, etc).

Microwave photonics has great potential for next generation

broadband wireless access networks.

Transparent to the modulation format

Microwave photonics will also find important applications in

wireless sensor networks (transmission of sensing data for
environmental, medical, traffic surveillance, defense and
homeland security applications)

Acknowledgements

Students and post-doctoral fellows in the Microwave

Photonics Research Laboratory, University of Ottawa

NSERC

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT)

National Capital Institute for Telecommunications (NCIT)

Canadian Institute for Photonics Innovation (CIPI)

29