Distributed System Architecture for Software-Defined Radio / Radar with Optical Signal Distribution

In this paper we present a new system architecture for software-defined radio / radar with optical signal distribution. The proposed architecture allows to transmit the optical carrier and an arbitrary IQ signal on the same fiber from a base station to wireless transmitters using a single laser. Furthermore, we can reuse parts, and under special conditions, also the complete optical output of the base station for the IQ return path from the wireless receiver frontends to the base station. Avoiding multiple lasers and fibers for the distribution of the carrier and arbitrary signal from the base station to the frontend, and avoiding the laser diode for the IQ return path from receiver frontends to the base station reduces the hardware effort significantly. Finally, the system architecture allows to integrate all components of the optoelectronic wireless frontend in a single chip using silicon photonics technology.