Ultrawideband Efficient Channelized Receiver Based on Photonic-Assisted Acousto-Optic Frequency Shifters

Radio frequency (RF) channelization is a critical technology for comprehensive signal reception and detection across various domains. However, digital channelized receivers encounter significant limitations when processing broadband signals exceeding 10 GHz due to the inherent processing constraints. Existing photonic-assisted channelized receivers are limited by inefficient optical frequency comb (OFC) utilization, where the channel count is confined to the number of comb lines and challenged by complex OFC generation and intrachannel crosstalk. In this work, an ultrawideband and high-efficiency RF signal channelization scheme based on a single OFC and acousto-optic frequency shifter (AOFS) is proposed and demonstrated. The RF channelization across 33 channels over the 0–33-GHz frequency range is experimentally validated using a single phase modulator (PM) for OFC generation, which significantly improves the OFC utilization and simplifies the system structure. In addition, the comparison of OFC utilization, the digital domain image suppression algorithm, and the channel number expansion in the proposed scheme is discussed. The innovative channelized receiver holds substantial promise for advanced applications in spectrum monitoring, electronic warfare, modern communications, and high-resolution radar systems.