Abstract
Microwave/millimeter-wave photonics is playing a prominent role in overcoming the challenges of RF signal generation and processing. This evolving technology has many advantages, such as RF carrier stability and broad operating bandwidth, and is applicable to a wide range of civil and military applications such as 5G communication networks, radar/jammer systems, and medical imaging. In this work, we leverage the multidimensional capabilities of microwave photonics in order to generate multi-band/multi-mode radar signals for multi-purpose applications. Our proposed system can generate up to five radar bands, simultaneously, with different modulation bandwidths, without hardware modifications. Additionally, various radar waveforms can be transmitted, simultaneously, over the corresponding radar bands. The RF radar signals are generated optically using a reconfigurable frequency comb source, which reduces the system cost significantly. The stability of the RF carriers is experimentally tested and compared with that of the mode-locked-loop-based laser sources, wherein a comparable performance is observed. Experimental results show the generation of four radar waveforms, including frequency modulated waveforms (pulsed linear frequency modulation and frequency modulated continuous wave) and polyphase codes (Barker-11 and Barker-13). Moreover, five carrier frequencies are used to transmit the various radar modulation schemes. These are 5.25, 9.325, 16.1, 26.4, and 28.15 GHz RF carriers. The signal quality is measured experimentally, and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 35, 30, 30, 25, and 20 dB SNR was observed in the C-, X-, Ku-, K-, and Ka-bands, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ghelfi, P., Laghezza, F., Scotti, F., Onori, D., Bogoni, A.: Photonics for radars operating on multiple coherent bands. J. Lightwave Technol. 34, 500–507 (2016)
Engels, F., Heidenreich, P., Zoubir, A.M., Jondral, F.K., Wintermantel, M.: Advances in automotive radar: a framework on computationally efficient high-resolution frequency estimation. IEEE Signal Process. Mag. 34, 36–46 (2017)
Jia, C., Geng, G., Chang, T., Yang, C., Fan, W., Guo, Y., Sun, Z., Liu, L., Guo, Q., Cui, H.L.: Millimeter wave imaging of cracks in bulk coal. IEEE Trans. Terahertz Sci. Technol. 6, 554–562 (2016)
Peichl, M., Albers, T., Dill, S.: Detection of small impurities in bulk material by MMW radar. In: 16th international radar symposium (IRS), pp. 294–299. (2015)
Li, C.J., Ling, H.: An investigation on the radar signatures of small consumer drones. IEEE Antenna Wirel. Propag. Lett. 16, 649–652 (2017)
Wang, X., Xu, L., Sun, H., Xin, J., Zheng, N.: On-road vehicle detection and tracking using MMW radar and monovision fusion. IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst. 17, 2075–2084 (2016)
Vavriv, D.M., Bezvesilniy, O.O., Volkov, V.A., Kravtsov, A.A., Bulakh, E.V.: Recent advances in millimeter-wave radars. In: International conference on antenna theory and techniques (ICATT), pp. 1–6. (2015)
Marimuthu, J., Bialkowski, K.S., Abbosh, A.M.: Software-defined radar for medical imaging. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 64, 643–652 (2016)
Nadeem, F., Kvicera, V., Awan, M.S., Leitgeb, E., Muhammad, S.S., Kandus, G.: Weather effects on hybrid FSO/RF communication link. IEEE J. Sel. Area Commun. 27, 1687–1697 (2009)
Bowers, J.E.: Integrated microwave photonics. In: International Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics, pp. 1–4 (2015)
Yao, J.: Microwave photonics. J. Lightwave Technol. 27, 314–335 (2009)
Nguyen, T.A., Chan, E.H.W., Minasian, R.A.: Photonic multiple frequency measurement using a frequency shifting recirculating delay line structure. J. Lightwave Technol. 32, 3831–3838 (2014)
Ghelfi, P., Laghezza, F., Scotti, F., Serafino, G., Pinna, S., Onori, D., Lazzeri, E., Bogoni, A.: Photonics in radar systems: RF integration for state-of-the-art functionality. IEEE Microw. Mag. 16, 74–83 (2015)
Ghelfi, P., Laghezza, F., Scotti, F., Serafino, G., Capria, A., Pinna, S., Onori, D., Porzi, C., Scaffardi, M., Malacarne, A., Vercesi, V., Lazzeri, E., Berizzi, F., Bogoni, A.: A fully photonics-based coherent radar system. Nature 507, 341–345 (2014)
Chen, J., Zou, W., Wu, K.: Reconfigurable microwave photonics radars. In: International Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics, pp. 59–62 (2016)
Minasian, R.A.: Ultra-wideband and adaptive photonic signal processing of microwave signals. IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 52, 1–13 (2016)
Futatsumori, S., Morioka, K., Kohmura, A., Okada, K., Yonemoto, N.: Design and field feasibility evaluation of distributed-type 96 GHz FMCW millimeter-wave radar based on radio-over-fiber and optical frequency multiplier. J. Lightwave Technol. 34, 4835–4843 (2016)
Tian, J., Sun, J., Wang, G., Wang, Y., Tan, W.: Multiband radar signal coherent fusion processing with IAA and apFFT. IEEE Signal Process. Lett. 20, 463–466 (2013)
Huynh, C., Lee, J., Nguyen, C.: Multi-band radio-frequency integrated circuits for multiband and multimode wireless communication, radar and sensing systems in harsh environments. In: International conference on acoustics speech and signal processing (ICASSP), pp. 789–792. (2014)
Debatty, T.: Software defined RADAR a state of the art. In: 2nd international workshop on cognitive information processing, pp. 253–257. (2010)
Costanzo, S., Spadafora, F., Borgia, A., Moreno, H.O., Costanzo, A., Di Massa, G.: High resolution software defined radar system for target detection. J. Electr. Comput. Eng. 2013, 7 (2013)
Kwag, Y.K., Jung, J.S., Woo, I.S., Park, M.S.: Multi-band multi-mode SDR radar platform. In: 5th Asia-Pacific conference synthetic aperture radar (APSAR), pp. 46–49. (2015)
Costanzo, S., Spadafora, F., Moreno, O.H., Scarcella, F., Di Massa, G.: Multiband software defined radar for soil discontinuities detection. J. Electr. Comput. Eng. 2013, 6 (2013)
Han, J., Nguyen, C.: Development of a tunable multiband UWB radar sensor and its applications to subsurface sensing. IEEE Sens. J. 7, 51–58 (2007)
Zhang, F., Gao, B., Pan, S.: Photonics-based MIMO radar with high-resolution and fast detection capability. Opt. Express 26, 17529–17540 (2018)
Gao, B., Zhang, F., Yao, Y., Pan, S.: Photonics-based multiband radar applying an optical frequency sweeping comb and photonic dechirp receiving. In: 2018 Asia communications photonics conference (ACP), pp. 1–3. (2018)
Brandão, T., Filgueiras, H., Alves, A., Scotti, F., Melo, S., Bogoni, A., Cerqueira Jr., A.: Dual-band system composed by a photonics-based radar and a focal-point/Cassegrain parabolic antenna. J. Microw. Optoelectron. Electromagn. Appl. 17, 567–578 (2018)
Gliese, U., Nielsen, T.N., Norskov, S., Stubkjaer, K.E.: Multifunctional fiber-optic microwave links based on remote heterodyne detection. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 46, 458–468 (1998)
Tadao, N., Akihiko, H., Naofumi, S., Ho-Jin, S., Naoya, K.: Photonic generation of millimeter and terahertz waves and its applications. In: 19th international conference on applied electromagnetics communications, pp. 1–4. (2007)
Goldberg, L., Taylor, H.F., Weller, J.F., Bloom, D.M.: Microwave signal generation with injection-locked laser diodes. Electron. Lett. 19, 491–493 (1983)
Rideout, H.R., Seregelyi, J.S., Paquet, S., Yao, J.: Discriminator-aided optical phase-lock loop incorporating a frequency down-conversion module. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 18, 2344–2346 (2006)
Reilly, J.J.O., Lane, P.M., Heidemann, R., Hofstetter, R.: Optical generation of very narrow linewidth millimetre wave signals. Electron. Lett. 28, 2309–2311 (1992)
Xiangfei, C., Zhichao, D., Jianping, Y.: Photonic generation of microwave signal using a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 54, 804–809 (2006)
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University, under the Research Group Program under Contract RG-1438-092.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ragheb, A., Esmail, M.A., Seleem, H. et al. Photonics-based multi-band/multi-mode radar signal generation. Photon Netw Commun 39, 91–101 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11107-019-00859-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11107-019-00859-7