Ultrawideband Modular RF Frontend Development for Photonically Enabled Imaging Receiver

Abstract
This letter presents a modular-based RF frontend developed for photonically enabled phased-array systems that are capable of ultrawideband (UWB) operation from microwave to millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies. The 1×8 modular architecture with integrated antennas, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), and electrooptic modulators is reconfigurable and scalable to form 2-D phased arrays of any size. The developed phased-array system demonstrates the ability to process multiple wide-bandwidth RF beams simultaneously, yielding unmatched beam-bandwidth product (BBP).
Description
This article was originally published in IEEE Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/LMWT.2024.3395410. © 2024 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. This article will be embargoed until 05/07/2026.
Keywords
coherent optical detection, electrooptic modulator, phased-array antennas, radio over fiber, RF frontend, ultrawideband (UWB)
Citation
S. Shi et al., "Ultrawideband Modular RF Frontend Development for Photonically Enabled Imaging Receiver," in IEEE Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 805-808, June 2024, doi: 10.1109/LMWT.2024.3395410.