Complement to Microwave Photonic Link Performances

Summary

The direct optical wave modulation in a microwave photonic link by the source laser or by an external modulator gives rise to double sideband modulation. This chapter discusses the microwave signal attenuation during double sideband modulation. It then explains modulator structures for optical carrier or high and low sideband removal. The transmission of a microwave signal over a photonic link can be used to distribute a reference frequency and, in this case, the spectral purity of the transmitted signal is of great importance. If a perfect microwave is transmitted by an optical link, its spectral purity suffers degradation in both amplitude and phase. The chapter presents some definitions concerning the noise around the microwave carrier. It computes the amplitude and phase microwave signal modulations and compares the characteristics of these fluctuations.

Controlled Vocabulary Terms

attenuation measurement; microwave links; microwave photonics; modulation techniques