A numerical study of a triple product optical processor

An analytical and numerical study of the triple product acousto-optic processor output was performed. The processor is capable of detecting the carrier frequency and modulation envelope of both coherent and incoherent signals. This triple product acousto-optic based optical processor could ultimately be used to determine the carrier and pulse repetition (PRF) frequencies of radar signals. The processor utilizes the time and space integrating capabilities of acousto-optic cells to determine the desired frequencies. The advantage of the processor in question compared to the existing ones is its ability to determine the PRF of incoherent radar signals. This is accomplished by performing a Fourier transform of the envelope signal alone, rather than of the composite signal consisting of the carrier and envelope signals. At the same time the processor can perform the operation on a number of radar signals of different carrier frequencies simultaneously