Simulation of optoelectronic oscillator injection locking, pulling & spiking phenomena.

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Nonlinear Dynamics
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Optoelectronic oscillators (OEOs) are critical in modern communication systems.
• Understanding their dynamical behavior under external injection is essential for performance optimization.
• Previous work established delay integral/differential equation (DDE) theory for time delay oscillators (TDOs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and utilize complex envelope and reduced phase simulation models for OEOs under external injection.
• To investigate the influence of the multimode nature of TDOs on their dynamical behavior.
• To explore phenomena beyond classical injection theory using high-precision simulations.

Main Methods:

• Development of complex envelope and reduced phase simulation models based on DDE theory.
• High-precision simulation using the Simulink™ block diagram environment.
• Comparison of reduced phase models (Leeson approximation) with complex envelope models.

Main Results:

• Simulations accurately reproduced established oscillations but failed to capture spiking phenomena with the Leeson approximation.
• Identified and simulated multimode oscillations and the appearance of sidemodes in RF and phase noise spectra.
• Observed persistent spike trains, consistent with recent experimental findings in broadband OEOs.

Conclusions:

• Complex envelope models provide a more comprehensive description of OEO dynamics, especially for phenomena like spiking.
• Reduced phase models are useful but have limitations, particularly concerning transient behaviors.
• Simulation tools facilitate the exploration of advanced OEO behaviors and circuit designs.