Design of an Integrated-Photonics RF Beamformer for Multi-Beam Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar

Reza, Manuel; Mohammad, Ahmad W.; Serafino, Giovanni; Roeloffzen, C.G.H.; Dijk, Paul van; Mohammadhosseini, Hakimeh; Abbasi, Amirali; Desoete, B.; Ghelfi, Paolo

doi:10.23919/mwp48676.2020.9314435

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…SPACEBEAM promises to consume low power, thanks to the hybrid photonic integration technology and the use of the Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) actuators [14], where the total power consumption per receiver module is estimated at 3.5 W [15]. Further, SPACEBEAM provides reconfigurable 12x3 beamforming and signal down-conversion functionalities, by exploiting the reconfigurable Blass matrix [15][16][17][18][19][20]. The initial target frequency is 9.65 GHz in the X-band with a minimum bandwidth of 450 MHz, but there are no limitations to extend this work to higher frequencies, such as the Ka-band.…”

Section: Design Fabrication and Characterization Of Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Hybrid Integrated Photonic Module for a Synthetic Aperture Radar Receiver

Mohammad,

Roeloffzen,

van Dijk

et al. 2024

J. Lightwave Technol.

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This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of the first photonic-assisted receiver module for a Scan-on-Receive synthetic aperture radar (SCORE-SAR) intended for Earth observation from space. The module is a hybrid photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that is designed to do precise and continuous beamforming-on-receive of wideband signals from a 12 antenna elements array, synthesizing up to three simultaneous beams. The PIC also implements frequency-agnostic photonic down-conversion so that the synthesized beams can be directly digitized. The PIC is realized by the hybrid integration of active chips on indium phosphide and a passive chip on silicon nitride. The design steps of the photonic module are discussed in this paper, including: the functional designs, the optical mask designs, the filters designs, the printed circuit boards (PCB) design, and the control electronics that drive the PIC. Characterization and tuning of the different building blocks of the PIC is also presented, and frequency down-conversion functionality is experimentally demonstrated.

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Section: Design Fabrication and Characterization Of Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Hybrid Integrated Photonic Module for a Synthetic Aperture Radar Receiver

Mohammad,

Roeloffzen,

van Dijk

et al. 2024

J. Lightwave Technol.

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“…Simulations in VPIphotonics and analytical calculations in MATLAB were performed, that estimated the PIC RF gain at -5.7 dB and the noise figure at 25.5 dB, assuming a photodiode responsivity of 0.8 A/W. More details on the design of the photonic-RF beamformer can be found in [5].…”

Section: Photonic Beamformermentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancement of photonic integration technology for space applications: a x-band scan-on-receive synthetic aperture radar receiver with electro-photonic beamforming and frequency down-conversion capability

Mohammadhoseini¹,

Ghelfi²,

Desoete³

et al. 2021

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2020

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Synthetic Aperture Radar is a well-known technique for remote sensing applications with great advantages like uninterrupted imaging capabilities even at night or in presence of cloud cover. However, spaceborne SAR sensors face major challenges such as cost and size, which are among the barriers against their applicability for future constellations of low-Earth observation applications. SAR sensors are not compact and require large or medium-sized satellites, which cost hundreds million dollars. To solve these challenges, the recently started SPACEBEAM project, funded by the European Commission, aims at developing a novel SAR Scan-on-Receive approach, exploiting a hybrid integrated optical beamforming network (iOBFN). The compactness and frequency flexibility of the proposed photonic solution complies with the requirements of future constellations of low-Earth orbit satellites in terms of size, weight, power consumption, and cost (SWaP-C).In the design of the SCORE SAR receiver module, we target the development of an X-band receiver having a large swath width of 50 km (5 times wider than state-of-art spaceborne SAR systems), although at the same time enabling a fine spatial resolution of 1.5 m in both along-track and across-track directions.In this paper, we present specifications and preliminary design of the SCORE-SAR receiver at equipment level, where we aim at the realization of a hermetically packaged hybrid InP/TriPleX™ photonic integrated circuit (PIC) for this application. We target the design for the PIC as well as for the RF front-end and control electronics, enabling the electrophotonic frequency down-conversion of the RF signals and the fast control of iOBFN with <300 ns switching time.

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“…The core of the system is an extremely compact hybrid PIC, realized thanks to the advanced hybrid integration of a Si3N4 TriPleX™ platform chip, used for the realization of extremely low-loss passive components, with InP chips for active and opto-electronic components. The proposed SCORE-SAR photonics-assisted receiver is able to process 12 incoming RF signals in the optical domain, thanks to the implementation of a reconfigurable optical analog Blass matrix [15], [16] capable of dynamically synthetize one, two, or three beams with continuity. Simultaneously, the PIC, by using an optical heterodyne detection scheme, is also able to perform the down-conversion to intermediate frequency (IF) of the X-band signals received by the feed array elements (FAEs) of the antenna.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Performance Estimation of a Photonic Integrated Beamforming Receiver for Scan-on-Receive Synthetic Aperture Radar

Reza

Serafino

Otto³

et al. 2021

J. Lightwave Technol.

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Synthetic aperture radar is a remote sensing technology finding applications in a wide range of fields, especially related to Earth observation. It enables a fine imaging that is crucial in critical activities, like environmental monitoring for natural resource management or disasters prevention. In this picture, the scan-on-receive paradigm allows for enhanced imaging capabilities thanks to wide swath observations at finer azimuthal resolution achieved by beamforming of multiple simultaneous antenna beams. Recently, solutions based on microwave photonics techniques demonstrated the possibility of an efficient implementation of beamforming, overcoming some limitations posed by purely electronic solutions, offering unprecedented flexibility and precision to RF systems. Moreover, photonics-assisted RF beamformers can nowadays be realized as integrated circuits, with reduced size and power consumption with respect to digital beamforming approaches. This paper presents the design analysis and the challenges of the development of a hybrid photonicintegrated circuit as the core element of an X-band scanon-receive spaceborne synthetic aperture radar. The proposed photonic-integrated circuit synthetizes three simultaneous scanning beams on the received signal, and performs the frequency down-conversion, guaranteeing a compact 15 cm 2 -form factor, less than 6 W power consumption, and 55 dB of dynamic range. The whole photonics-assisted system is designed for space compliance and meets the target application requirements, representing a step forward toward a deeper penetration of photonics in microwave applications for challenging scenarios, like the observation of the Earth from space.

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Design of an Integrated-Photonics RF Beamformer for Multi-Beam Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Hybrid Integrated Photonic Module for a Synthetic Aperture Radar Receiver

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Hybrid Integrated Photonic Module for a Synthetic Aperture Radar Receiver

Advancement of photonic integration technology for space applications: a x-band scan-on-receive synthetic aperture radar receiver with electro-photonic beamforming and frequency down-conversion capability

Design and Performance Estimation of a Photonic Integrated Beamforming Receiver for Scan-on-Receive Synthetic Aperture Radar

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