ASKAP photonic requirements

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder project will be a radio astronomy synthesis array covering the frequency range 700MHz - 1800 MHz comprised of at least thirty 12 m diameter parabolic reflector antennas located in the remote radio quiet desert Midwest region of Western Australia. This paper looks at the architectural requirements for such a system and the role of cost effective photonics solutions required to transport signals within each antenna, intra-array and to the outside world. Photonics solutions include RF over fibre, short-haul and long-haul wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) point to point digital links. A key enabling technology for ASKAP is the formation of multiple beams within the primary field of view (FOV) of the antenna using broadband focal plane array (FPA) feed techniques. At present this is in the experimental phase of development.