Optical techniques for reconfiguring microwave phased arrays

Abstract

The authors outline the fundamentals of phased-array beamforming and indicate how these concepts can use optical control signaling. They explore a simple parallel optical processing scheme which has the potential of being extended to the control of larger phased-array systems. The method of very rapid control adjustment examined here has the potential of providing almost instantaneous beam reconfiguration, in very large phased arrays, without the heavy computational burden normally associated with such systems.<>