Photonic-Assisted Multi-Tone Microwave Frequency Measurement Based on Pulse Identification

We report a photonic-assisted method for measuring the frequencies of a multi-tone microwave with high accuracy based on pulse identification. The unknown microwave signal and a linearly chirped signal are modulated to an optical carrier using a dual-polarization Mach–Zehnder modulator. Carrier-supp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaobing Xie, Chao Luo, Huiyun Tang, Jinfeng Du, Ming Li, Wei Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Photonics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/1/1
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Summary:We report a photonic-assisted method for measuring the frequencies of a multi-tone microwave with high accuracy based on pulse identification. The unknown microwave signal and a linearly chirped signal are modulated to an optical carrier using a dual-polarization Mach–Zehnder modulator. Carrier-suppressed single-sideband modulation avoids the generation of undesired frequency components after photodetection. An electrical bandpass filter with a narrow bandwidth selects the beat signal between the unknown signal and the linearly chirped optical tone. A pulse, generated by the beat signal, can be observed using an oscilloscope (OSC). By identifying the beating pulse position, we can accurately determine the frequency of the unknown signal. The single-tone and multi-tone microwave signal ranges of 6–16 GHz and 26–36 GHz are successfully measured, respectively. The measurement errors for single-tone and multi-tone signals are both less than ±1 MHz.
ISSN:2304-6732