A multi-channel photonic transceiver

This paper presents a novel photonic transceiver architecture for digital array applications. The architecture utilizes optical remoting for minimal hardware impact at the antenna and phase encoding for improved linearity. The individual elements are addressed through wavelength division multiplexing and photonic downconversion is used to increase the linearity of the photonic receiver. The architecture is evaluated through a 10 GHz, two-element experimental prototype system. The phase stability of the system is evaluated by measuring the relative phase drift between the two elements at the outputs of the transmitter and receiver. The transmitter exhibits low phase error, on the order of 10 millidegrees, while the receiver shows a phase error of approximately 1 degree over a time scale of 2 ms at uncontrolled laboratory temperatures.