Reconfigurable multi-band microwave photonic radar transmitter with a wide operating frequency range

A photonics-assisted multi-band radar transmitter operating in a wide frequency range has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The multi-band radar transmitter incorporates a tunable optoelectronic oscillator (OEO), a low-frequency RF source and a microwave photonic frequency-converting link. In the frequency-converting link, a single tone with ultra-low phase noise and a low-frequency narrow-band RF signal that are generated respectively by the OEO and the RF source, are mixed, frequency converted and bandwidth multiplied to generate multi-band transmission signals. The central frequency, bandwidth and modulation format of transmission signals are reconfigurable. A multi-band radar transmitter with an instantaneous bandwidth of 1.6 GHz is developed. The frequency range of the multi-band radar transmitter covers six bands (from S to Ka), and a moving target detection experiment verifies that the proposed system has potential in multifunctional radar applications.