Acoustically steered and rotated true-time-delay generator based on wavelength-division multiplexing.
The acoustically steered and rotated (ASTRO) true-time-delay (TTD) generator, capable of two-dimensional (2D) multiple beam generation without causing extraneous beams, is described. It is based on wavelength-division multiplexing to encode and decode various linear chirp time delays with wavelengths. An array of equally spaced light stripes with linear chirp time delays among them is formed and is subsequently rotated to a desired angle by use of our nonmechanical acousto-optic dove prism, believed to be novel. Our architecture reduces hardware complexity significantly by avoiding redundancy in conventional TTD generators. Experimental results to prove the concept of 2D multiple beam generation are shown. Also, an extension of the system for bidirectional communications is proposed. Various technical issues for practical applications are discussed.
Paek
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Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8951, USA. paek@nist.gov
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