Abstract
A novel approach to implementing instantaneous
frequency measurement (IFM) based on an amplified fiber-optic
recirculating delay loop and a broadband incoherent light source
(ILS) is proposed, analyzed, and experimentally demonstrated.
Since the semiconductor optical amplifier-based fiber-optic delay
loop has an infinite impulse response that varies from a large
positive value to negative infinity on a log scale, a unique relationship
between the output power, and the frequency of the
input continuous-wave (CW) microwave signal is established.
Meanwhile, it is experimentally shown that the use of the ILS
can greatly improve the stability of the proposed IFM system.
When the input power of CW microwave signal is within the
range of -7 dBm to -16 dBm, the measured errors remain
within ±400 KHz over a frequency range of 6.94–6.958 GHz.
The measurement error, the complexity and cost of the proposed
IFM system can be considerably reduced by only using one ILS,
one modulator, and one photodetector. Since the proposed IFM
system has a capability of optical integration, it is theoretically
estimated that the measurement range can be extended to 20 GHz
with a measurement resolution of 1.36 dB/GHz.
© 2011 IEEE
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