Work

Photonics RF Front-End for High-Throughput Satellites

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate several photonic RF receiver front-end architectures for satellite payloads, comparing the key characteristics and RF performance of intensitymodulated links and phase-modulated links with single and balanced photodetection. We focus on conversion gain and noise figure as primary metrics, demonstrating, for example, that gains on the order of -12 dB and noise figures of 23 dB can be achieved under typical operating conditions with received optical powers of 10 dBm. We validate our simulation model through experiments, showing strong agreement with measured results. Furthermore, we explore the influence of modulator$V_{\pi }$on overall system performance, identifying achievable performance levels and technology trade-offs. These findings offer insights into optimizing photonic RF front-ends for space applications, guiding the selection of modulator technology to improve RF performance.

Source: Journal of Lightwave Technology

DOI: 10.1109/jlt.2025.3576675

Authors: Metodi Belchovski, Benoit Benazet, Michel Sotom, Simon Rommel

Institutions: Eindhoven University of Technology, Thales Alenia Space (France)

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Photonic Communication Systems

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Commission

Awards: G1817242253, G3836552374, G5900174084, G6999940458