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To meet the growing demand for high-frequency broadband signal processing in complex electromagnetic environments and to overcome the limitations of traditional electronic systems such as restricted bandwidth, limited response speed, and low integration density, this paper presents a reconfigurable microwave photonic channelized receiver chip implemented on a silicon photonic platform. The proposed architecture adopts a two-stage optical filtering strategy that circumvents the typical strict wavelength alignment requirements in traditional designs, thereby greatly alleviating the challenges of system integration. In the first stage, the cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI)-based wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs) are used to perform Gaussian-shaped filtering of the input optical spectrum with a channel spacing of approximately 200 GHz. The second stage combines an array of coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) filters functioning as finely tunable bandpass elements. These CROW filters utilize curved waveguide directional couplers, which are specifically designed to address the issues found in traditional multimode interference (MMI) couplers such as high insertion loss—and in straight directional couplers, which encounter significant coupling dispersion. The optimized curved coupler exhibits an insertion loss below 0.03 dB and a coupling ratio variation of less than 10% across the 1500–1600 nm wavelength band. Filter bandwidth reconfigurability is achieved via thermo-optic tuning of the balanced MZI embedded within each CROW filter, enabling dynamic adjustment of the coupling coefficients. Each filter exhibits a continuously adjustable 3 dB bandwidth ranging from 2.25 GHz to 3.12 GHz, with an excellent 20 dB/3 dB shape factor of 3.08. This performance indicates significantly improved roll-off characteristics compared with the performance of traditional filter designs, leading to enhanced suppression of image frequency components and improved signal separation fidelity. A complete microwave photon channelized receiving link is constructed using an integrated WDM-CROW filter bank. System-level simulations confirm that the architecture provides excellent broadband adaptability, supporting the channelization of radio frequency (RF) signals in two operational bands: 8–28 GHz and 8–36 GHz. The system efficiently decomposes the input wideband RF signal into eight independent intermediate frequency (IF) sub-bands. Within each sub-band, an image rejection ratio (IRR) exceeding 22 dB is maintained. The corresponding IF ranges are 1.4–3.6 GHz when configured for 8–28 GHz RF input, and 2–5 GHz for 8–36 GHz input, covering critical communication and detection bands from X-band to K-band and satisfying the requirements of multi-scenario signal processing. Furthermore, we simulate the reception and reconstruction of a 5 GHz bandwidth linear frequency-modulated (LFM) signal, successfully verifying the chip’s capability in handling wideband waveforms. These results underscore the feasibility of the proposed chip as a high-performance solution for advanced applications such as radar detection and broadband electronic warfare systems, offering a novel, integrated photonic alternative to traditional channelized reception architectures. 
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Keywords:
- integrated optics /
- channelized receiver chip /
- bandwidth-reconfigurable optical filter /
- silicon on insulators /
- coupled resonator optical waveguide
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图 1 基于CROW级联光子滤波器阵列的带宽可重构MPW信道化接收机的系统架构示意图, 其中OFC-SIG为信号光梳; OFC-LO为本振光梳; EFDA为掺铒光纤放大器; PC为偏振控制器; MZM为马赫-曾德尔调制器; WDM为光波分复用器; MRRs为微环滤波器; MMI为多模干涉耦合器; PD为光电探测器
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the bandwidth-reconfigurable microwave photonic channelized receiver system based on CROW photonic filter array, where OFC-SIG represents signal Comb; OFC-LO represents ben oscillator comb; EFDA represents erbium-doped fiber amplifier; PC represents polarization controller; MZM represents Mach-Zehnder modulator; WDM represents optical wavelength division multiplexer; MRRs represents microring filters; MMI represents multimode interferometric coupler; PD represents photodetector.
图 2 (a)高斯型8通道(解)多路复用器的示意; (b) 8通道透过光谱
Figure 2. (a) Schematic diagram of a Gaussian 8-channel (solution) multiplexer; (b) 8-channel transmission spectra.
图 3 CROW型带宽可调光子滤波器原理与结构示意图(各节点对应传输矩阵方法分析端口)
Figure 3. Schematic diagram of the principle and structure of CROW bandwidth tunable photonic filter.
图 4 (a)弯曲定向耦合器的结构示意图; (b) 1550 nm下的模场分布图; (c)耦合比例以及插入损耗随波长的关系
Figure 4. (a) Schematic diagram of the designed curved DC; (b) mode field diagram at the wavelength of 1550 nm; (c) coupling ratio and insertion loss versus the wavelength.
图 5 (a)不同耦合系数下的平顶带通滤波器; (b) 2.25 GHz/3 dB带宽的平顶带通滤波器光谱响应曲线
Figure 5. (a) Flat-top bandpass filter in different configurations; (b) flat-top bandpass filter with 3 dB bandwidth and 2.25 GHz.
图 6 当3 dB-BW@2.2 GHz时, (a)镜频抑制比和(b)射频信号与输出通带的关系
Figure 6. (a) Image frequency rejection ratio and (b) relationship between the RF signal and the output passband at 3 dB-BW@2.2 GHz.
图 7 当3 dB-BW@3.1 GHz时, (a)通带内镜频抑制比和(b)射频信号与输出通带的关系
Figure 7. (a) Image frequency rejection ratio and (b) relationship between the RF signal and the output passband at 3 dB-BW@3.1 GHz.
图 8 (a), (b)两个CROW滤波器对LFM信号分别进行光学滤波与切片; (c), (d)两根光梳与本振混频下变频后的电谱响应; (e)下变频后的LFM信号频谱和(f)重构后的时频关系图
Figure 8. (a), (b) Filtering and slicing of the LFM signal using two CROW optical filters; (c), (d) electrical spectra after down-conversion through mixing between two signal comb lines and the local oscillator; (e) the down-converted LFM signal spectrum in the frequency domain and (f) its up-converted time-frequency diagram.
图 9 所提出的信道化器中的子信道SFDR结果
Figure 9. SFDR calculation for sub-channels in the proposed channelizer.
表 1 基于CROW结构的可调谐平顶带通滤波器的参数和性能
Table 1. Parameters and performance of the flat-top bandpass filter.
Power coupling
ratios3 dB BW
/GHzER
/dBSF FSR
/GHzIL
/dBk1 = 0.097
k2 = 0.0087
k3 = 0.0972.25 48 3.08 57.2 4.4 k1 = 0.113
k2 = 0.011
k3 = 0.1132.62 46 3.14 57.2 4 k1 = 0.147
k2 = 0.014
k3 = 0.1473.12 42 3.1 57.2 3.2 
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表 2 微波光子信道化接收器性能比较, WBW为工作带宽, CBW为信道带宽, IMRR为图像抑制比
Table 2. Comparison of microwave photonic channelization receiver performance, WBW represents working bandwidth, CBW represents channel bandwidth, IMRR represents image-reject ratio.
Reference Design method Channel
numberWBW/ GHz CBW/
GHzIMRR/
dB[13] BGFP+Fresnel lens 40 1—32 1 — [14] FPF 5 21—25 1 — [15] Microring resonator banks+ 8 8—13.5 1.3 >5 [16] Active and passive MRRs 92 1—9 or 9—18 0.124 6.9 [17] FPF + de-mux 6 8—13 1 >14.4 [18] Double-ring resonator filter 6 1—9 2 — [19] Optical hybrid + IRM 5 13—18 1 >22 [20] Self-interference cancellation 6 17—20 0.5 >31.4 [21] Optical hybrid + IRM 25 8—37 1.2 >34 [22] Wave-shaper 20 0—20 1 — this work CROW banks+ 8 8—36 tunable 2.25—3.12
tunable>22 注: + The design is based on integrated chip.
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