Frequency-domain analysis of dual-loop optoelectronic oscillators

Area of Science:

• * Physics and Engineering
• * Electrical Engineering
• * Photonics

Background:

• * Optoelectronic oscillators (OEOs) are crucial for generating ultralow phase noise radio-frequency (RF) signals.
• * Dual-loop OEOs offer advantages over single-loop designs, mitigating issues like mode-hopping and spurious phase noise peaks.
• * Practical implementations often favor dual-loop OEO architectures.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To present a novel frequency-domain analysis approach for dual-loop OEOs.
• * To provide a comprehensive method for analyzing steady-state and phase noise characteristics.
• * To offer a computationally efficient alternative to existing analysis techniques.

Main Methods:

• * Development of a frequency-domain steady-state and phase noise analysis based on the conversion matrix approach.
• * Comparison with time-domain analysis methods for run-time efficiency.
• * Evaluation against linear-time-invariant phase transmission models for comprehensive noise phenomenon accounting.

Main Results:

• * The proposed conversion matrix approach significantly reduces analysis run times compared to time-domain methods.
• * This method comprehensively accounts for all noise-transferring phenomena and amplitude-to-phase noise conversions.
• * Validation confirms the accuracy of the approach against existing literature formulations.

Conclusions:

• * The presented frequency-domain analysis is a comprehensive and efficient method for dual-loop OEOs.
• * It overcomes limitations of previous modeling techniques by including all noise interactions.
• * This approach enhances the understanding and design of high-performance OEO systems.