Wideband Agile Receiver: An Integrated Photonic Electronic Digital Receiver for RF Sensing

The Wideband Agile Receiver (WAR) merges advanced photonics and a high dynamic range digital receiver to create a novel hardware prototype for the sensing and communication systems that are the ´eyes and ears´ of the war fighter. Unlike conventional receivers, WAR employs a photonics front end using an advanced electro-absorption modulator (EAM) developed at Lockheed Martin´s Commercial Space Systems (CSS). A benefit of the photonics front end is the flexibility to decentralize radio frequency (RF) sensors on a mobile platform and to route the received signals via fiber optics to a central location for digital processing. In addition, WAR leverages an ultra-high frequency (UHF) sampling digital receiver developed under the DARPA Advanced Digital Receiver Technology program along with a new digital signal processing integrated circuits developed at Lockheed Martin´s MS2. The integration of these enabling technologies opens the possibility for new RF receiver architectures that enhance the detection of RF signals of interest over a wider frequency spectrum crowded with strong RF energy or environmental interference.