Wideband Microwave Frequency-Hopping Signal Generation Technology Based on Coherent Double Optical Comb

Abstract

Microwave frequency-hopping signal generation is one of the backbone components in modern wireless communication system. In this paper, we propose a novel photoelectric integrated approach to implement broadband microwave frequency-hopping signal generation. The coherent dual optical combs are constituted by two Mach Zehnder modulators (MZMs) and one acousto-optic frequency modulator (AOM). By using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) and single-sideband modulation with carrier suppression, the proposed method extends the input signal's frequency hopping bandwidth by six times. Due to the photoelectric hybrid structure, the proposed method can achieve precise control for using electronic technology while also providing the advantages of high bandwidth and reconfigurability through photonics. In the experiment, the frequencies of generated signals can hop ranging from 0 to 6GHz. Meanwhile, the frequency hopping signals can maintain a well signal quality with the EVM lower than 6.4%.