Comparison of conventional and fiberoptic manifolds for a dual band (UHF and S) phased-array antenna

We compare the weight, size, and power consumption of conventional and fiberoptic manifolds for a large dual-band (S and UHF) array antenna. The conventional manifold is based on a corporate feed comprised of coaxial cables and stripline combiner circuits. In the fiberoptic manifold, optoelectronic devices are used to convect the signals between the optical and electrical domains at the manifold interfaces, and then the signal distribution and combination are implemented with optical fiber. Both designs meet the same bandwidth, output power, and signal-to-noise ratio requirements.