A Generalized Framework for the Performance Evaluation of Microwave Photonic Assisted IR-UWB Waveform Generators

In this paper, a fast design evaluation approach for microwave photonic (MWP) assisted impulse radio ultrawideband (IR-UWB) waveform generators is presented. The power efficiency (PE) of a photonically generated IR-UWB waveform is the adopted performance evaluation metric of interest, considering two typical waveform types. Analytical expressions are developed for the PE upper bounds of the considered waveforms. The developed expressions have the advantage of being independent of the particular implementation of the photonic generation technique. Accordingly, the PE upper bound of a designed and/or photonically generated IR-UWB waveform can be calculated and optimized a priori even if the overall system transfer function is not known. Moreover, the PEs of two practical MWP-based IR-UWB waveform generators are assessed and are compared to the calculated upper bounds. Simulation results validate the applicability of the analytically obtained expressions as upper bounds for the performance of practical MWP-assisted IR-UWB waveform generators.