Photonics-Based CW/Pulsed Microwave Signal AOA Measurement System

A new microwave photonic system for determining the angle of arrival (AOA) of a continuous wave (CW) or pulsed microwave signal is presented. It is based on a dual-polarisation dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator followed by an optical notch filter for carrier suppression. Two orthogonal-polarised carrier- suppressed optical signals are detected by low-frequency photodetectors that generate two DC voltages. An incoming microwave signal AOA can be obtained from the ratio of the two DC voltages, without the need of a calibration procedure or measuring the incoming microwave signal power level, which are required in previously reported structures. The proposal system can be incorporated with a conventional radar receiver front end consists of mixers and filters, for measuring the AOA of a pulsed microwave signal. Experimental results demonstrate 0°-63° AOA measurement with less than 2° errors for an input microwave signal having different frequencies and different power levels.