Photonics to the Rescue: A Fresh Look at Microwave Photonic Filters

Extensively researched in recent years, microwave photonic filters can be implemented either in an incoherent operational regime or in a coherent operational regime. In the incoherent regime, a delay-line configuration is usually used with a finite-impulse response (FIR) or infinite-impulse response (IIR); to avoid optical interference, an incoherence light source or a laser array is used. Filter tuning and reconfiguration are achieved by changing the time delay and the tap coefficients. In the coherent regime, however, a single wavelength is needed, and the filter's spectral response is translated directly from the spectral response of an optical filter. Thus, a coherent microwave filter requires a well-defined optical filter with a precisely controlled spectral response. This article reviews the techniques for implementing both incoherent and coherent tunable and reconfigurable microwave photonic filters.

[1]  R.A. Minasian,et al.  A solution to the synthesis problem of recirculating optical delay line filters , 1994, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[2]  David Marpaung,et al.  Frequency agile microwave photonic notch filter with anomalously high stopband rejection. , 2013, Optics letters.

[3]  Jianping Yao,et al.  Nonuniformly-spaced photonic microwave delayline filter. , 2008, Optics express.

[4]  K. Williams,et al.  Microwave photonics , 2002 .

[5]  Alayn Loayssa,et al.  Characterization of stimulated Brillouin scattering spectra by use of optical single-sideband modulation. , 2004, Optics letters.

[6]  Chongcheng Fan,et al.  Equivalent phase shift in a fiber Bragg grating achieved by changing the sampling period , 2004 .

[7]  K. Wilner,et al.  Fiber-optic delay lines for microwave signal processing , 1976, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[8]  Jianping Yao,et al.  Bandstop-to-Bandpass Microwave Photonic Filter Using a Phase-Shifted Fiber Bragg Grating , 2015, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[9]  Yitang Dai,et al.  Chirped Microwave Pulse Generation Using a Photonic Microwave Delay-Line Filter With a Quadratic Phase Response , 2009, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[10]  Jianping Yao,et al.  Tunable Microwave Photonic Filter With a Narrow and Flat-Top Passband , 2013, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[11]  R. Minasian,et al.  Microwave photonic filter with single bandpass response , 2009 .

[12]  Yitang Dai,et al.  Microwave Correlator Based on a Nonuniformly Spaced Photonic Microwave Delay-Line Filter , 2009, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[13]  Leimeng Zhuang,et al.  On-chip CMOS compatible reconfigurable optical delay line with separate carrier tuning for microwave photonic signal processing. , 2011, Optics express.

[14]  Fei Zeng,et al.  All-optical bandpass microwave filter based on an electro-optic phase modulator. , 2004, Optics express.

[15]  B. Jalali,et al.  All-optical RF filter using amplitude inversion in a semiconductor optical amplifier , 1997 .

[16]  Jianping Yao,et al.  Dynamic range improvement of a microwave photonic link based on bi-directional use of a polarization modulator in a Sagnac loop. , 2013, Optics express.

[17]  Jun Wang,et al.  All-optical microwave bandpass filter with negative coefficients based on a phase modulator and linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings. , 2005, Optics letters.

[18]  J. V. Galan,et al.  Single Bandpass Photonic Microwave Filter Based on a Notch Ring Resonator , 2010, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[19]  J. Bowers,et al.  Hybrid Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuit Technology , 2013, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[20]  A. Weiner,et al.  Comb-based radiofrequency photonic filters with rapid tunability and high selectivity , 2011, Nature Photonics.

[21]  T. Erdogan.  Fiber grating spectra , 1997 .

[22]  Javier Martí,et al.  All-optical WDM multi-tap microwave filter with flat bandpass. , 2006, Optics express.

[23]  I. Gasulla,et al.  Integrable microwave filter based on a photonic crystal delay line , 2012, Nature Communications.

[24]  Yitang Dai,et al.  Microwave pulse phase encoding using a photonic microwave delay-line filter. , 2007, Optics letters.

[25]  Yitang Dai,et al.  Nonuniformly Spaced Photonic Microwave Delay-Line Filters and Applications , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[26]  José Capmany,et al.  Synthesis of fiber-optic delay line filters , 1995 .

[27]  Jianping Yao,et al.  A Narrow-Passband and Frequency-Tunable Microwave Photonic Filter Based on Phase-Modulation to Intensity-Modulation Conversion Using a Phase-Shifted Fiber Bragg Grating , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[28]  Qing Wang,et al.  Multitap Photonic Microwave Filters With Arbitrary Positive and Negative Coefficients Using a Polarization Modulator and an Optical Polarizer , 2008, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[29]  Jianping Yao,et al.  A Tunable Photonic Microwave Filter With a Complex Coefficient Using an Optical RF Phase Shifter , 2007, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[30]  J. Capmany,et al.  Microwave photonic filters with negative coefficients based on phase inversion in an electro-optic modulator. , 2003, Optics letters.

[31]  Qing Wang,et al.  Photonic Microwave Bandpass Filter With Negative Coefficients Using a Polarization Modulator , 2007, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[32]  J. Capmany,et al.  Demonstration of incoherent microwave photonic filters with all-optical complex coefficients , 2006, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[33]  B. Ortega,et al.  A tutorial on microwave photonic filters , 2006, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[34]  Jianping Yao,et al.  All-optical microwave bandpass filter with negative coefficients based on PM-IM conversion , 2005, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[35]  Robert A. Minasian,et al.  Photonic signal processing of microwave signals , 2006 .

[36]  Jianping Yao,et al.  Investigation of phase-modulator-based all-optical bandpass microwave filter , 2005, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[37]  J. Capmany,et al.  Experimental demonstration of fibre-optic delay line filters with negative coefficients , 1995 .

[38]  Jianping Yao,et al.  Microwave Photonic Filter With Two Independently Tunable Passbands Using a Phase Modulator and an Equivalent Phase-Shifted Fiber Bragg Grating , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.