Wideband Agile Receiver: An Integrated Photonic Electronic Digital Receiver for RF Sensing

The Wideband Agile Receiver (WAR) merges advanced photonics and a high dynamic range digital receiver to create a novel hardware prototype for the sensing and communication systems that are the 'eyes and ears' of the war fighter. Unlike conventional receivers, WAR employs a photonics front end using an advanced electro-absorption modulator (EAM) developed at Lockheed Martin's Commercial Space Systems (CSS). A benefit of the photonics front end is the flexibility to decentralize radio frequency (RF) sensors on a mobile platform and to route the received signals via fiber optics to a central location for digital processing. In addition, WAR leverages an ultra-high frequency (UHF) sampling digital receiver developed under the DARPA Advanced Digital Receiver Technology program along with a new digital signal processing integrated circuits developed at Lockheed Martin's MS2. The integration of these enabling technologies opens the possibility for new RF receiver architectures that enhance the detection of RF signals of interest over a wider frequency spectrum crowded with strong RF energy or environmental interference.