Wavelength-addressable optical time-delay network and phased arr

Details Wavelength-addressable optical time-delay network and phased arr Wavelength-addressable optical time-delay network and phased arr

1996-07-15

1998-06-02

Palmer, Phan T. H.

Optical waveguides

With optical coupler

385 16, 385 22, 385 24, 385 45, 343853, 359331, 359128, G02B 626, H01Q 2100

Patent

active

057613516

ABSTRACT:
An optical switch network which includes a plurality N of cascaded optical switching stages, each mth one of the switching stages including 2.sup.m-1 Mach-Zehnder interferometers, where m=1 through N. The input port of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer of a first one of the optical switching stages receives an optical input signal, and the 2.sup.N-1 Mach-Zehnder interferometers of the Nth one of the optical switching stages provide a total of 2.sup.N output ports. Each of the Mach-Zehnder interferometers is preferably an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and the optical input signal preferably has a wavelength which is a selected one of 2.sup.N selectable wavelengths. The plurality N of cascaded optical switching stages provide 2.sup.N possible optical paths, whereby the optical input signal is automatically routed along a selected one of the 2.sup.N possible optical paths in dependence upon its selected wavelength. Also disclosed is an optical time delay network comprised of an optical switch network as described above, and a plurality 2.sup.N of optical delay lines of different lengths coupled to respective ones of the 2.sup.N output ports of the Nth one of the optical switching stages, each of the optical delay lines being comprised of an optical waveguide having a light-reflecting end, whereby the optical input signal is automatically routed from the input port of the first one of the optical switching stages to a selected one of the 2.sup.N output ports of the Nth one of the optical switching stages, and thence, into a respective one of the 2.sup.N optical delay lines, in dependence upon its selected wavelength, whereby the optical time delay network is wavelength-addressable. Also disclosed is a phased array antenna which includes a plurality of optical time delay networks like the one described above, whereby a beam produced by the antenna elements of the phased array antenna has a beam angle which is a selected one of 2.sup.N selectable beam angles, in dependence upon the wavelength of the optical input signal.

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"True Time-Delay Fiber-Optic Control of an Ultrawideband Array Transmitter Receiver with Multibeam Capability," Frankel and Esman, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 43,No. 9, Sep. 1995.

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