Microwave photonics frequency scanning approach to absolute distance measurement

•This paper presents an absolute distance measurement approach based on microwave photonics provide a high-resolution and non-ambiguity range measurement solution by microwave frequency scanning.•The approach combines the characteristics of easy focusing and collimation of light waves, as well as easy manipulation of microwaves, to achieve accurate absolute distance measurement.•The proposed scheme utilizes ordinary fiber laser to achieve low measurement error and large non-ambiguity range, which reduces the reliance of ranging systems on high-performance light sources. An absolute distance measurement approach based on microwave photonics is proposed to provide a high-resolution and non-ambiguity range measurement solution by microwave frequency scanning. The microwave interference spectrum containing optical path difference information can be generated through two rounds of intensity modulation. The approach combines the characteristics of easy focusing and collimation of light waves, as well as easy manipulation of microwaves, to achieve accurate absolute distance measurement. The experimental results show that high-precision measurements can be achieved within the frequency scanning range of only 2 GHz. The error of the distance measurement is less than ±0.079 mm. In addition, the effectiveness of the scanning pattern and the data processing algorithm are verified.