EARS: A Wideband Frequency-Agile Silicon Photonic mm-Wave Receiver with Automatic Jammer Suppression via Rapidly Reconfigurable Optical Notch Filters

未来具有超宽瞬时带宽和快速动态调谐的多功能无线电具有巨大的潜力，能够增加无线宽带通信，并使雷达、射电天文和传感系统共存。然而，在小型无线电系统的尺寸、重量和功率目标范围内，使用传统电子滤波器实现所需的频率选择性、调谐范围和速度存在根本限制。射频(RF)光子学技术是一种很有前途的候选技术，可以使这些可广泛调谐的接收器在宽频谱范围内具有宽带宽和快速动态调谐。硅射频光子滤波器为芯片级的无线电系统提供非常高的选择性、多GHz的调谐范围和快速的动态调谐。然而，缺乏对初始滤波响应的高精度自动校准和调整，光子调制器对接收器性能的非线性影响，以及整体前端灵敏度是现有硅射频光子学接收器的主要缺点。该方案通过使用纳米级互补金属氧化物半导体(CMOS)电子器件以及硅光子滤波和调制器来解决这些重要问题，用于自动滤波器响应校准、干扰抑制、调制器自适应线性化和低噪声前端电路。该方案的研究目标是开发一种新型的芯片级硅光子毫米波接收机前端结构，在由纳米级芯片智能控制的绝缘体上硅(SOI)光芯片中实现高性能的光子滤波和调制，以实现快速的滤波器重构和干扰抑制。为了实现这一目标，将开发一种具有自动干扰抑制功能的硅光子毫米波接收机。将设计能够快速电子重构的新型硅光子滤光器，并开发用于光学带宽定义带通滤光器调谐和动态陷波滤光器放置以抑制干扰的算法和硬件。新的CMOS原型将包括滤波器调谐环路、具有自适应线性化的调制器驱动器，以及用于与拟议的硅光子芯片进行测试的前端电路。将所提出的技术应用到未来的小型宽带多功能无线电中，将产生大的瞬时带宽和快速的动态滤波，这是目前最先进的集成电子宽带多功能无线电所不具备的。该项目将包括一个涉及6名学生(3名研究生和3名本科生)的跨学科教育计划，并在参与外联活动方面做出广泛的教职员工承诺。这些活动包括参与电气和计算机工程不插电项目和女工程师协会为期一周的夏令营，以吸引高中生，并通过丰富工程经验(E3)计划与高中教师持续互动。项目成果将通过列入题为“射频硅光子学”的新研究生课程的教学大纲和网站以及在国家和国际期刊和会议上发表来广泛传播。

Future multi-function radios with ultra-wide instantaneous bandwidth and rapid dynamic tuning have great potential to enable increases in wireless broadband communications, and co-existence of radar, radio astronomy, and sensing systems. However, there are fundamental limitations to achieving the required level of frequency selectivity, tuning range and speed using conventional electronic filters within the size, weight, and power targets of radio systems with small form factors. Radio frequency (RF) photonics technology is a promising candidate to enable these widely tunable receivers with wide bandwidth over a broad spectral range with rapid dynamic tuning. Silicon RF photonic filters provide very high selectivity, multi-GHz tuning ranges, and rapid dynamic tuning for radio systems at a chip-scale. However, lack of automatic calibration and adjustment of the initial filter response with very high accuracy, the non-linear effect of the photonic modulator on the receiver performance, and overall front-end sensitivity are major drawbacks of existing silicon RF photonics receivers. This proposal addresses these important issues by employing nano-scale complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics, along with the silicon photonic filtering and modulator, for automatic filter response calibration, jammer suppression, modulator adaptive linearization, and low-noise front-end circuitry. The receiver architectures developed in this research will allow the realization of transformative radios with small form factors for wireless communications, radar, and sensing applications.This proposal's research goal is to develop novel chip-scale silicon photonic mm-wave receiver front-end architectures, with high-performance photonic filtering and modulation implemented in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) optical chip intelligently controlled by a nanometer CMOS chip to allow for rapid filter reconfiguration and jammer rejection. To accomplish this goal, a silicon photonic mm-wave receiver with automatic jammer suppression will be developed. Novel silicon photonic optical filters capable of rapid electronic reconfiguration will be designed and algorithms and hardware for optical band-definition bandpass filter tuning and dynamic notch filter placement for jammer rejection will be developed. Novel CMOS prototypes will include filter tuning loops, modulator drivers with adaptive linearization, and front-end circuitry for testing with the proposed silicon photonic chips. Applying the proposed technology into future wideband multi-function radios with small form factors would yield large instantaneous bandwidth and rapid dynamic filtering, currently not available in state-of-the-art integrated electronic wideband multi-function radios. This project will include an interdisciplinary educational program involving 6 students (3 graduate and 3 undergraduate), with extensive faculty commitment in engaging outreach activities. These activities include involvement in programs such as Electrical and Computer Engineering Unplugged and The Society of Women Engineers one-week summer camps to attract high school students, and on-going interactions with high school teachers via the Enrichment Experiences in Engineering (E3) program. Project results will be broadly disseminated by inclusion in the syllabi and website of a new graduate course entitled "RF Silicon Photonics" and through publication in national and international journals and conferences.