RF-to-RF characterization of a phased array receive antenna steering system using a novel ring resonator-based integrated photonic beamformer

A novel ring resonator-based photonic beamformer has been developed for continuous and squint-free control of the reception angle of broadband phased array antenna systems. The core of the system is a ring resonator-based optical beamforming network (OBFN) used for delay synchronization and coherent signal combining. The OBFN is integrated in a single chip realized in CMOS-compatible optical waveguide technology together with an optical sideband filter for single-sideband suppressed-carrier modulation, and an optical carrier reinsertion circuit for balanced coherent detection. This paper demonstrates the system functionality by RF-to-RF measurements of the phase and power responses of the integrated OBFN.