Process for the analog-to-digital conversion of microwave signals
US5381147A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 17, 1993 |
| Grant date | Jan 10, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 17, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01Q3/2676
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An optical analog to digital converter for microwave signals in which the input to a Mach-Zehnder modulator/interferometer is split into two branches which are provided with respective laser carrier signals having a difference frequency equal to a desired conversion frequency. An input microwave signal is then used to modulate the carrier signal present in one of the input branches to the interferometer, and the resulting output signal is detected and compared with a predetermined threshold value to generate a binary 1 or 0 output. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of such interferometers are arranged in a parallel configuration and the modulation of the respective carrier signals is scaled by a factor of two.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.