Theory study on a range-extended and resolution-improved microwave frequency measurement

Abstract

A range-extended and resolution-improved approach for microwave frequency measurement is proposed. In this system, a single laser source, a polarization modulator, and a dispersive element are shared to construct different amplitude comparison functions (ACFs) simultaneously via tuning the polarization angles of four photonic links. These ACFs owning relatively high slope are used jointly to estimate the microwave frequency so that the measurement range is extended beyond the monotonic region of a single ACF and the resolution is also improved by selecting a higher–slope ACF. With theory analysis and simulation verification, a measurement range of 2–20 GHz with a resolution better than 100 MHz is obtained.

Keywords:

• instantaneous microwave measurement
• extended range
• improved resolution

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61275076], [grant number 61405007]; Beijing Natural Science Foundation [grant number 4154081].