Scalability analysis and designs for large-scale programmable rf-photonic integrated circuitsmodelling, design and implementation

Resumo

Microwave photonics brings together the worlds of radiofrequency engineering and optoelectronics and it has attracted great interest in the last few decades. It added value stems from the fact that, on one hand, it enables the realization of key functionalities in microwave systems that either are complex or even not directly possible in the radiofrequency domain. On the other hand, it creates new opportunities for information and communication systems and networks. Hence, microwave photonics is used to enable specialized functions such as high-frequency signal generation, modulation, and signal processing, particularly in communication, radar, and sensing applications. In the context of programmable photonics, versatility emerges by allowing dynamic manipulation of light signals, making them adaptable for generic purposes across optical networks, optical computing, adaptive optics, research and development, and quantum photonics. Then, it provides a flexible platform for optical applications, showcasing their complementary roles in modern photonics technology. Hence, programmable photonic integrated circuits have been recently proposed and promise to be a solution to compete with application-specific designs. However, current demonstrations and proof-of-concepts have only integrated a limited number of components and represent small and moderate-complex circuits. This work aims to answer the questions dealing with the system scalability and evolution of future programmable photonic integrated circuits. The analysis and proposal of solutions will include two main parts: the first one will study the scalability of programmable circuits in terms of system integration, including a comprehensive study of optical interfacing. Secondly, due to the need for loss compensation that arises when using integrated photonics, we will consider the performance of end-to-end analytical microwave photonics models with amplified links (optical power budget, signal noise, microwave photonic links key performance indicators, and power consumption). Once completed, we will make use of moderate complexity designs to evaluate our performance estimators for both optical signal processing and microwave photonic applications.