GVD-insensitive stable radio frequency phase dissemination for arbitrary-access loop link

Abstract

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a stable radio frequency (RF) phase dissemination scheme for a long-haul optical fiber loop link based on frequency mixing. Using a single optical source in both directions of the loop link, additional timing jitter caused by group velocity dispersion (GVD) can be eliminated. Impressive scalability provided by the optical link ensures that arbitrary-access node can obtain an RF signal with a stabilized phase to meet the requirements of multiple users. In our experiment, a 2.4 GHz RF signal is distributed to arbitrary points along a 100 km fiber-optic loop link steadily. Stabilities of the recovered signals from two accessing nodes are recorded. The root-mean-square (RMS) phase jitter of the received signal at either accessing node is reduced from 1.87 rad to no more than 0.027 rad during 1800-second measuring time.

Ultrastable Long-Haul Fiber-Optic Radio Frequency Transfer Based on Dual-PLL

“…The remote user needs optical frequency comb to download radio or microwave frequency signals, which are required in the aforementioned applications. In consideration of complexity and cost of the optical frequency comb, stable radio frequency (RF) transfer over fiber becomes more practical and have been widely demonstrated [13]- [24]. There are two basic limitations in long-haul fiber-optic frequency transfer systems [28].…”

“…The stable RF transfer based on passive phase correction method is summarized by Pan et al which has a relatively simple structure without any tunable device [31]. But the passive phase correction method could not remedy the SNR degradation and usually result in limited transmission distance and frequency stability [20]- [24]. In the previous solutions, cascaded systems are applied which extend the transmission length to a few hundred kilometers [11], [16], [17].…”

Phase-Stabilized Side-Branch RoF Link for Extensible Frequency Dissemination in Distributed Systems

“…As the number of remote stations sharply increasing in applications (e.g. in the squared kilometer arrays), different one-to-multipoint time and frequency delivery schemes have been proposed-the extensibility of synchronization system has been taken into consideration [23][24][25][26][27][28]. Unlike the GNSS-based synchronization, which is inherently capable of broadcasting time and frequency to multiple users, it is much harder for the ground-based sync system like optical fiber links to disseminate frequency to multiple locations.…”

All-Optical Arbitrary-Point Stable Quadruple Frequency Dissemination With Photonic Microwave Phase Conjugation

“…Recently, based on passive phase fluctuation compensation method, multi-node stable frequency dissemination schemes have been reported to underpin the applications, such as deep space network and distributed coherent aperture radar systems [14]- [18]. Such schemes are demonstrated over a branching or circular fiber-optic link.…”

“…Moreover, the complexity and flexibility of the branching links need to be carefully considered due to the different configurations between the remote site and the access nodes. Based on the loop link, an arbitrary-access stable fiber delivery of RF signals has been proposed, where only one laser with a single wavelength is applied to mitigate temperature-induced group delay changes [18]. On the other hand, this scheme uses electrical mixers or multipliers to implement multistage frequency mixing, which can partly limit system performance at higher RF frequency such as millimeter-wave.…”