Pushing the boundaries

This article's objective is to report on the recent technological activities in microwave photonics that are currently being carried out in Europe, mainly within the integrated European IPHOBAC project, though many other projects in microwave photonics are being carried out in other parts of the world, especially in Japan, various Asian countries, and North America. The IPHOBAC project is application-driven; an overview of its technical objectives is presented. For each application field (communications, radar/sensing, and instrumentation), at least one specific system demonstration has been planned. This is done to demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of the developed microwave photonic technologies in systems. This approach also provides clear guidance for defining the specifications of the components and modules to be developed.