Analog RF-overFiber Technology

Association of Old Crows

January 19, 2008
Bruce G. Montgomery, Syntonics LLC
Bruce.Montgomery@SyntonicsCorp.com

Agenda

Introduction Components for analog photonics RF-over-fiber link design Applications of RF photonics Who is Syntonics LLC?

1. Introduction
What is RF-over-fiber?

What is RF-over-Fiber?

RF-over-fiber = Electro-optic components and light used to transport RF signals over optical fibers [all analog]

Radical change from what Mr. Marconi had in mind Long, secure, lightweight, easily routed Practical links need gain / attenuation / filtering / closed-loop control Links add thermal and spurious noise and limit SFDR Link doesnt does not know everything the radio knows

RF-over-fiber has certain advantages over coax cable

But RF-over-fiber isnt an engineering silver bullet:

How does RF-over-fiber work?

Transmitter
Amplitude-modulated light propagates over optical fiber

Receiver

Laser diode

PIN diode Bias tee

RF RFSource Source
DC bias DC bias

RF RFOut Out

Any RF signal can be transmitted, up to many GHz depending on the laser and its modulation scheme.

The RF Out must be amplified to provide a useable signal

Generic Link Topologies

Different ways to combine lasers, modulators, fibers, detectors
Directly Modulated Laser at Antenna

@ Antenna
Laser

AM light

@ Receiver
Detector

RF Out

Externally Modulated Laser at Antenna

@ Antenna
Laser
Un-modulated light

AM or PM light

@ Receiver
Detector (Several designs to be considered)

External AM or PM Modulator

RF Out

Externally Modulated Laser at Receiver

@ Antenna

AM or PM light

@ Receiver
Detector (Several designs to be considered)

External AM or PM Modulator

Laser

RF Out
Un-modulated light

Optical Communications

1870John Tyndall 1880William Wheeling 1880Alexander Graham Bell

Mid-Twentieth Century

Early 1950s: Fiberscope & optical fibers with cladding

Snells law: The angle at which light is reflected depends on the refractive indices of the two materials Used to inspect inaccessible welds, for laparoscopic surgery Optical fiber loss ~1,000 dB/km

Late 50s to early 70s

1962: First visible laser diode photographed in its own light

1957Gordon Gould at Columbia University conceives of laser as an intense light source

Supported by Charles Townes, Arthur Schawlow at Bell Labs

1960Ruby laser and helium-neon (HeNe) laser 1962Semiconductor lasers 1966Charles Kao and Charles Hockham at Standard Telecommunication Laboratory, England

1962: IBM scientists observe their new GaAs direct injection laser.

Posit optical fiber communications possible if attenuation < 20dB/km (1% of light at 1 km)

1970: Robert Maurer, Donald Keck, Peter Schultz at Corning

Achieve glass fiber with < 20 dB/km loss purest glass ever made

2. Components for Analog Photonics

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EO Components

Lasers External Modulators Detectors

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Communication Lasers
Butterfly module includes a Peltier thermoelectric cooler/heater to maintain temperature (wave length control).

TOSA (Transmit Optical Sub-Assembly) lasers are simpler devices

Metrics: Optical Power & Relative Intensity Noise (RIN)

RIN describes the instability in the power level of a laser; usually presented as relative noise power in db/Hz

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External Modulators

Electro-absorption (EA) devices are intensity modulators

Uses Franz-Keldysh effect, i.e., a change of the absorption spectrum caused by an applied electric field

Electro-Optic (EO) devices are phase or intensity modulators

Oki Semiconductor (www.okisemi.com) 40 Gb/s EA modulators using GaInAsP semiconductor

Uses Pockels effect, which is small Most commonly used electro-optic crystal, lithium niobate (LiNbO3), has r = 34x10-12 m/V. An electric field of 106 V/m (1V across electrode gap of 1 m) produces a fractional index change of ~ 0.01%. Most effective with polarized light

n3 n rE 2 Where : n = index of refraction r = electro - optic coefficien E = applied electric field

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Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM)

Mach-Zehnder interferometer invented ~1900

Measures phase shift ( index of refraction) using two optical paths

A MZM is an intensity modulator

Modulation of an electrical data stream using an external MZM.

Schematic cross section through the two arms of a push-pull MZM (not to scale). Light to be modulated propagates through core layer along the length of the device (into the page). Dipoles are aligned anti-parallel in the two arms of the MZ.

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Optical Detectors

Single-ended PIN diode photoreceiver (e.g., ROSA)

Absorbed photons generate a mobile electron and electron hole Carriers are swept from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region, producing a photocurrent
Anode Cathode

Used with reverse bias.

Reverse-biased diode has extremely high resistance Can be used as a photon detector by monitoring the current running through it

Metrics: Responsivity, Leakage, NEP

Responsivity Ratio of generated photocurrent to incident incident light light power, typically expressed in A/W when used in photoconductive mode Dark current (Leakage) Current through the photodiode in the absence of any input optical signal, when it used in photoconductive mode Noise-equivalent power (NEP) Minimum input optical power to generate photocurrent equal to the RMS noise current in 1-Hz bandwidth

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Optical fibers & connectors

Four Wavelength Regions of Optical Fibers

17

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Multi-Mode Optical Fibers

Multimode ~ numerous simultaneous wave modes related to acceptance angle Two types:
Step-index (left) Graded-index (right) Light waves follow serpentine path

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Single-Mode Optical Fibers

Small diameter core precludes dispersion caused by multiple mode and achieves lower attenuation losses
Early single-mode fiber generally had step-index cladding Modern single-mode fibers have matched clad, depressed clad, and other exotic structures

Single-mode fiber presents incremental difficulties

Smaller core diameter makes coupling light into core more difficult Tolerances for connectors and splices are more demanding

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Optical Connectors

Names reflect 1. connector type/2. end-face polish

1. ST, SC, FC, etc. 2. End polish applied to connectors (i.e., fibers) end face

PC = Physical Contact, end face polished and usually convex APC = Angled Physical Contact at 8 angle

Can also find defined as Angled Polished Contact)

Typically, xx/PC connectors have lowest insertion loss; xx/APC connectors have lowest return loss

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Wave Division Multiplexing

Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing (CWDM)

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18 wavelengths specified, 10 used (1430-1610 nm)

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Dense WDM

Dense Wave Division Multiplexing DWDM)

64 wavelengths specified

RF-over-fiber link design

Loss & Gain & Noise (Noise Figure) & Linearity SFDR

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RF-over-fiber versus Copper

Advantages

Disadvantages

{Distance x Bandwidth} product give better RF performance for relatively long links Easier to route cabling Reduced weight, diameter, bend radius Signals are isolated No cross talk EMP/EMI isolation of radio Security regulations Relocates expensive/sensitive radios to the user Can maintain or change receiver without going to the antenna or changing the fiber

{Distance x Bandwidth} product give less RF performance for relatively short links Noise figure and SFDR Requires TX amplifier at antenna Redundant with HPA in radio Size-Weight-and-Power (SWAP) for transmitter components Lasers, current and TEC control circuits, modulator, bias controller Higher power LNAs

Loss versus frequency for coax cables

50 750

26

2.5 2

40

600

Cable outside diameter

0.15" OD 0.2" OD 0.3" OD 0.3" OD 0.375" OD 0.5" OD

loss dB

30 20 10

loss (dB/m)

450 300 150

1.5 1 0.5 0 0 10 20
frequency frequecy(GHz) (GHz)

20 m Cable run

300 m Length of aircraft carrier

30

40

3rd order dynamic range of typical LNAs

135
2/3 SFDR SFDR (dB-Hz (dB-Hz ) )

130 125 120 115 110 105 100 15 20 25 30

20 dB gain 30 dB gain 40 dB gain

35

40

1 dB output compression point (dBm)

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Optical link loss calculations

Optical Component Connector (SC/APC or FC/APC) Splitter Switch Fusion Splice SM Optical Fiber Typical Loss 0.25 dBo 3.5 dBo 0.5 dBo 0.1 dBo 0.2 dBo / km

0.25 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.2 1.7 dBo

~0.25 dBo ~0.5 dBo ~0.5 dBo ~0.25 dBo

~0.2 dBo total

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Optical loss RF loss

RF power loss = 2 x optical power loss With electrons, RF Power I2 ( V2)

Half (RF) Power = 10log(power ratio) = 10log(21) = 3 dB down = 70.7% of current (or voltage)

With light, Optical Power number of photons

Half (optical) Power = 1/2 number of photons = 1/2 of current in PIN diode detector RF output Power I2 = 1/4 of RF input power = 6 dB down

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Gain

Gain is required to:

Overcome losses in the optical path (TX and RX paths) 2X RF gain to overcome 1X optical loss Work above the noise floor of the laser (TX and RX paths) Typically requires 30-40 dB gain in RX path Reduces SFDR Power the antenna (HPA, TX path) Coax losses much reduced so less power may be necessary Many military waveforms require linear amplification Some military waveforms require fast T/R switching

Attenuation is required to:

Survive radio TX power Implement ALC control of HPA

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Noise

Noise results from RIN, Shot Noise, Thermal Noise

RIN results from lasers spurious optical emissions (spurious electron transitions) Shot noise results from quantum physics of discrete photons striking PIN diode detector Thermal noise results from resistance in laser diode and PIN diode detector + noise due to RF amplification

At low optical power, thermal noise dominates At high optical power, RIN dominates

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Noise Figure

Link output noise can be computed directly from specified component noise constants and optical loss (OL):
Nthermal = cthermal (dBm/Hz) Nshot = cshot OL (dBm/Hz) NRIN = cRIN 2OL (dBm/Hz)

Total output noise, Noise figure (dB) = where GL is the total link gain,

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Linearity

Linearity refers to second-order, third-order, and higher order distortion terms Linearity required by system is function of:

Bandwidth, dynamic range, modulation type, number of carriers Laser diode, fiber, PIN diode detector, RF amps

Sources of third-order non-linearities include:

Sources of second-order non-linearities include:

Nonlinear spectral components of sum & difference freqs. and harmonic freqs. Not an issue if system bandwidth < 1 octave

Typical RF-over-fiber links operate at low power

Only laser diode and RF circuits create non-linearities

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Spur-free dynamic range

SFDR is a consequence of gain, noise, linearity Usually dominated by third-order SFDR:

Where third-order intercept, IIP3 (dBm) is:

Excellent reference: Application Note 106-1, System Design Using Direct Modulation Fiber Optic Links J. A. MacDonald, Linear Photonics, Hamilton, NJ http://www.linphotonics.com/technical _info.htm

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Noise figure and SFDR for MZ quadrature biased link

NF(V,Ip), balanced link
NF(V,Ip), single detector,
(RIN=-160dB/Hz)
RIN limited

COTS

NF=18 Po=150mW (fiber laser) Dual output modulator, V=3 Modulator + link loss = 3.8 dB Balanced detector, rd=0.8, Ip=25 mA

NF=29 Po=40mW, RIN=-160dB/Hz (laser diode) Dual output modulator, V=5 Modulator + link loss = 5 dB Balanced detector, rd=0.8, Ip=5 mA

Military Comms Applications for RFover-Fiber

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Mobile Communications
Central antenna Exposed antennas with good lines of sight

Lightweight fiber cable Perimeter Security Radio Port, typ. Mobile command center in defilade

Antennas on railings Radios below decks

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Fixed-Site Communications
SCIF
Encrypted, opto-isolated radio located with operator Antenna Interface Unit (AIU)

Use existing fiber optic cables to connect radio in basement to antennas on the roof

Secure signal Secure signal on fiber cable No emissions No susceptibility Carry multiple radios on single cable

Radio Interface Unit (RIU)

Radios in command center

QuickTime and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Geographic diversity cable #2

Geographic diversity cable #1

Remote antenna farm #1

Remote antenna farm #2

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ATC, Ranges

Moves radios to central control location yet antennas can be distant

Air Traffic Control

Lowers maintenance costs Reduces maintenance reaction times

Test & Training Ranges

Syntonics LLC

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Syntonics LLC

Specializes in RF communications technology for DoD:

FORAX communications systems Unique antennas

Founded 1999

DCAA-approved accounting system ISO 9001:2000 registered Quality Management System DSS-supervised facility clearance (SECRET)

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Syntonics Customers

Air Force ACOMS,& Comms Sqdrns (multiple units) Air Force NORTHCOM Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Air Force Pentagon Comms Agency (AFPCA) Army Brigade Combat Teams (multiple units) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Army Tobyhanna Depot DoD Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) Dwyer Hill Training Center, Ontario Institute for Defense Analysis Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) Maryland Procurement Office Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Naval Air Systems Command, Pax River (NAVAIR) Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Naval Special Warfare Groups (multiple units) Naval Surface Warfare Command Carderock Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport Space and Naval Warfare System Command (SPAWAR) Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, BAE, Brown International, TSE, others

FORAX RF-over-Fiber Communications System

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What Is FORAX?

FORAX connects communication radios to remote antennas using optical fibers FORAX can replace multiple coaxial cables with single fiber optic cable

RF-over-fiber is well suited for:

Fixed and mobile command centers Air Traffic Control Test & Training Ranges

Developed for USSOCOM

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Why Use FORAX? (Warfighters)

FORAX

enables a dramatic change in Radio

Hill
Removes

the radios and crypto equipment to the defilade safety of the command post Replaces heavy, short, power wasting coaxial cables one per radio with a single long, lightweight, secure fiber optic cable

FORAX

will change tactical communications doctrine as it relates to radio/antenna separation:

Decrease

risk to personnel and costly radio/crypto equipment Decrease time of CP set-up Lower maintenance response time

Why Use FORAX? (Radio Engineers)

Feature
Long Connections Signal Security

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Benefit
Radio

and its antenna can be located up to 10 km apart using single mode fiber (2-3 km with multi-mode fiber)

Entire

connection from radio to antenna can be encrypted signal Fiber optic link is extremely difficult to intercept RF signals can penetrate SCIF walls using optical fibers
Electromagnetic

EMP/EMI Immunity Easy Routing

pulses or interference cannot propagate over, or influence the signals on, optical fiber cables Radio equipment is opto-isolated
RF

signals are carried on lightweight, flexible, rugged, optical cables Multiple radios can be carried on a single fiber optic cable Geographic diversity in RF signal routing becomes easy
FORAX
HF,

All Frequencies, All Modulations

tactical radio products cover 0.5-512 MHz @ all modulations

SINCGARS, VHF, UHF, UHF TACSAT

EPLRS

coming early 2008

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FORAX RF-over-fiber Users

User
DoD/Ft. Bragg Canadian Forces, DHTC Pentagon Renovation/GD Army Research Lab 56th ACOMS Hickam AFB 347th CS Moody AFB Pentagon USAFPCA Army JADOC Bolling AFB 603th ACOMS Ramstein AFB 612th ACOMS Davis-Monthan AFB Pentagon USAFPCA GD/Electric Boat Tobyhanna Army Depot Army Research Lab NORTHCOM CENTCOM 612th ACOMS Davis-Monthan AFB CENTCOM Al Udeid Air Base (Pending)

Radio(s)
PRC-117 PRC-117 PSC-5, USC-61 PRC-117, PSC-5 PRC-117 PSC-5 PRC-117, PSC-5 VRC91, PRC-117, PSC-5 PRC-117 PRC-117 PRC-117 PSC-5D PRC-117 PRC-117 PRC-117 VRC93, PRC-117 GPS RT-1523, PRC-117, EPLRS PRC-117, AFTRS, CTII Various

Application
VHF & UHF LOS, TACSAT VHF & UHF LOS, TACSAT TACSAT TACSAT TACSAT VHF & UHF LOS TACSAT SINCGARS, VHF & UHF LOS, TACSAT TACSAT TACSAT UHF LOS, TACSAT TACSAT TACSAT UHF LOS, TACSAT TACSAT SINCGARS GPS L1/L2 SINCGARS, EPLRS TACSAT, GPS, UHF LOS HF, LOS, TACSAT, EPLRS

Use
Mobile C2 Mobile C2 Fixed C2 Mobile C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Mobile C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 Fixed C2 F & M C2

Since
2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2008

FORAX-HARC Communications
Existing aerostats equipped with FORAX-HARC (High Antennas for Radio Communications) can extend radio communications both over the horizon and into urban canyons.

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HARC Concept
High

antennas improve a CPs line-of-sight (LOS) comms

Example:

Over-the-horizon comms to distant radios Example: Local comms into urban canyons Useful for SINCGARS, VHF, UHF, EPLRS, etc.

Aerostats

can carry high antennas FORAX can connect a CPs radios to multiple high antennas using the aerostats tether
Rx /Tx Rx /Tx FORJ

FORAX-HARC: Many radios sharing a 5000 antenna tower

FORAX-HARC AIU (not visible) Antennas connected via coax cables Packaged to meet platforms requirements Optical fiber 1 @ single-mode Coax cables Four high antennas (not visible) Separate TX and RX elements Two types Aerostat mooring point & FORJs FORAX-HARC RIU Radios connected via coax cables to radios antenna ports

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User Radios

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To buy from Syntonics

Bruce Montgomery
Bruce.Montgomery@SyntonicsCorp.com 410-884-0500 x201

Ray Madonna
Ray.Madonna@SyntonicsCorp.com 410-490-2680 or 410-884-0500 x206

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Discussion