基于光Blass矩阵的光控二维多波束产生

Two-dimensional multi-beam forming based on optical Blass matrix

摘要:

多波束是电子信息装备实现多功能、多任务、大容量信息传输与处理的关键。围绕新一代相控阵系统对宽带多波束形成网络的应用需求，提出一种基于光Blass矩阵的两级级联结构产生二维多波束的实现方法。通过光域相干波束形成技术完成第一级水平方向的波束合成，再利用光域非相干波束形成技术实现第二级垂直方向的波束合成，进而获得空域二维波束。采用该架构，一方面可突破光波长数量不足对光控波束形成网络阵列规模的限制，可将光控相控阵系统的单元规模从数十个提升至数百个甚至更多；另一方面可大幅减少光控多波束芯片的数量，对于阵元数N×N、波束数量M×M的多波束系统，波束芯片数量可从M²个减少到(N+M)个。同时该方案可采用光子集成技术手段实现，在简化多波束系统结构与提升系统可靠性方面具有无可比拟的优势。

Abstract:

According to the application requirements of multi-beam in multi-functional phased array system, a two-dimensional multi-beam forming method based on the combination of optical Blass matrix and a two-stage cascade structure is proposed, in which coherent beam forming method in optical domain is employed to form the first-stage beam in horizontal direction, and the incoherent beam forming method in optical domain is employed to form the second-stage beam in vertical direction, such that the two-dimensional beams can be realized. This architecture bears several advantages:on the one hand, the scale of optical phased array system can be increased from dozens to more than several hundreds units, and this can break the limitation on the scale of the optical array beamforming due to the small quantities of optical wavelengths. On the other hand, it can significantly reduce the number of optical beam forming chips, and the number of beam chips can be reduced from M ² to (N+M) for the system with array number of N×N and beam number of M×M. Moreover, the structure of the multi-beam system can be drastically simplified by combining the photon integration technology, which is helpful to improve the integration degree and engineering realizability.