Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (publ)

Ericsson Ab

Marconi Communications Gmbh

Elettronica S.p.a.

Antonella Bogoni

Luca Poti

Paolo Ghelfi

Mirco Scaffardi

Antonio D'Errico

Gianluca Berrettini

Marzio Puleri

Nicola Andriolli

Piero Castoldi

Claudio Porzi

Francesco Laghezza

Filippo Scotti

Filippo Ponzini

Antonio Malacarne

Giovanni Serafino

Teresa Pepe

Gianluca Meloni

Emma Lazzeri

Fabio Cavaliere

Roberto Magri

Luca Giorgi

Patryk Urban

Fabrizio Di Pasquale

Antonio D'errico

Alberto Bianchi

Giovanni Sacchi

Riccardo Ceccatelli

Vito Sorianello

Francesco Fresi

Isabella Cerutti

Pier Giorgio Raponi

Daniel Onori

Sergio Pinna

Gianluca Berettini

Bimal Nayar

Francesca Bontempi

Marco Bartocci

Antonio Tafuto

Alessandro Albertoni

Raffaella Mazzoli

Maurizio Gemma

Antonio D'ERRICO

Transmitting and receiving apparatuses, transmitting and receiving methods, and a transceiver for a phased array antenna are provided. The transmitting apparatus may comprise a laser light source configured to provide an optical beam comprising one or more spectral components. The transmitting apparatus may comprise a modulator configured to modulate the optical beam with a signal to be transmitted. The transmitting apparatus may comprise one or more group delay controlling units configured to add one or more controllable time delays to the one or more spectral components. Further, the transmitting apparatus may comprise a plurality of waveguides each having a chromatic dispersion configured to guide the optical beam, wherein the laser light source is tunable to control time delays added by the plurality of waveguides.

Transmitting and receiving apparatuses and methods for a phased array antenna

A receiver () for a phased array antenna comprises a laser light source () arranged to provide an optical spectrum comprising a first spectral component having a first wavelength and a second spectral component having a second wavelength. The first wavelength is spaced from the second wavelength. A wavelength separator () is configured to separate the first spectral component from the second spectral component, such that the first spectral component is directed onto a first path (A) and the second spectral component is directed onto a second path (B). A first delay unit () is configured to add a controllable time delay to the first spectral component on the first path. A second delay unit () is configured to add the time delay to the second spectral component on the second path. A modulator () is configured to modulate the first spectral component on the first path with a received RF signal from the phased array antenna. A heterodyning device () is configured to heterodyne the resulting first and second spectral components.

Receiver for a phased array antenna

A signal generator for a phased array antenna comprises a laser light source arranged to provide an optical spectrum comprising a plurality of spaced wavelengths. The signal generator further comprises a dispersion unit arranged to introduce a delay to a plurality of spectral components of the optical spectrum associated with the spaced wavelengths. The delay is dependent on the wavelength of the spectral components of the optical spectrum. The signal generator further comprises a heterodyning device configured to generate a signal for the phased array antenna by heterodyning the spectral components associated with different ones of the spaced wavelengths of the laser light source.

Signal generator for a phased array antenna

A periodic phase modulation, having a period shorter than a symbol period, is applied as a source modulation, in addition to a symbol modulation, to signals transmitted between a transmitter and a receiver in a communication network. Symbol value elements can be sent from multiple transmitters () to a receiver () in the same symbol period can be processed on the basis of the source modulation without destructive interference. In some embodiments, the symbol value elements sent by different transmitters can be combined in the receiver. In some embodiments, symbol value elements sent by different transmitters can be distinguished in the receiver.

Multipoint transmission and reception in a radio communication network

An opto-electronic oscillator () comprising: an optical source () to generate an optical carrier signal having a carrier wavelength; an optical phase modulator () to apply a sinusoidal phase modulation to the optical carrier signal to generate two first order sidebands having a &#x3c0; phase difference between them; an optical phase shifter () comprising an optical resonator configured to apply a substantially &#x3c0; phase-shift to one of the first order sidebands at a preselected wavelength within an optical spectrum of said first order sideband; and a photodetector () configured to perform optical heterodyne detection of the optical carrier signal with both: said one of the first order sidebands substantially it phase shifted by the optical resonator; and the other of the first order sidebands, to generate an electrical carrier signal (), and wherein a first part of the electrical carrier signal () is delivered to an electrical output () and a second part of the electrical carrier signal () is delivered to the optical phase modulator as a drive signal.

Opto-electronic oscillator and method of generating an electrical carrier signal

A plurality of sub-cells are defined within a cell area of a radio communication network by the intersection of a radio paths of a plurality of directional radio antennas. The plurality of directional radio antennas are arranged to broadcast radio signals simultaneously, and to receive radio signals simultaneously. This disclosure relates to determining of signal values transmitted by or received from the plurality of directional radio antennas in a radio communication network.

A transceiver for a phased array antenna comprises a laser light source arranged to provide an optical spectrum comprising a plurality of spaced wavelengths. The transceiver further comprises a dispersion unit arranged to introduce a delay to a plurality of spectral components of the optical spectrum associated with the spaced wavelengths. The delay is dependent on the wavelength of the spectral components of the optical spectrum. The transceiver further comprises a first optical filter configured to select a plurality of spectral components received from the dispersion unit. The transceiver further comprises a first heterodyning device configured to generate a signal for transmission by the phased array antenna by heterodyning the selected spectral components associated with different ones of the spaced wavelengths of the laser light source. The transceiver is configured to receive signals from the phased array antenna. The transceiver further comprises a modulator configured to modulate spaced wavelengths from the said laser light source with the received signals. The spaced wavelengths are associated with the spectral components used to generate the signal for transmission. The transceiver further comprises a second heterodyning device configured to heterodyne spectral components associated with different ones of the spaced wavelengths of the laser light source.

Transceiver for a phased array antenna

The invention provides a free space optical (FSO) communications terminal for a first telecommunications card or a backplane. The FSO terminal comprises a plurality of transmission interfaces. The FSO terminal further comprises a light signal generating unit adapted to generate a plurality of light signals. Each of the plurality of light signals carries the same information as the other one or more of the plurality of light signals and is arranged for transmission through a respective one of the plurality of transmission interfaces. Each of the plurality of light signals is at a different orthogonal mode from the other one or more of the plurality of light signals. The invention further provides a free space optical (FSO) communications terminal for a second telecommunications card or a backplane. The FSO terminal comprises a plurality of receive interfaces. Each of the plurality of receive interfaces adapted to receive a light signal carrying information. The light signal may be at any one of a plurality of orthogonal modes. The FSO terminal further comprises a plurality of optical-to-electrical signal convertors. The invention further provides an optical backplane, a router and an optical node.

FSO communications terminals for connecting telecommunications cards

An optical switch () comprising: inputs () to receive input optical signals at respective wavelengths and having planar wavefronts; conversion apparatus () to convert each input optical signal into a respective optical signal having a respective helical wavefront, each helical wavefront having a different orbital angular momentum, OAM; optical multiplexing apparatus () to receive each helical wavefront optical signal from the conversion apparatus and to multiplex the helical wavefront optical signals into an OAM multiplexed optical signal; and optical demultiplexing apparatus () comprising a plurality of outputs (), the optical demultiplexing apparatus arranged to: receive the OAM multiplexed optical signal; demultiplex the OAM multiplexed optical signal into a plurality of wavelength multiplexed optical signals each having a different OAM; reconvert each wavelength multiplexed optical signal from its helical wavefront into a respective planar wavefront; and deliver each planar wavefront wavelength multiplexed optical signal to a respective one of the outputs according to the respective OAM it had before reconversion.

Optical switching

An RF signal transceiver comprising a mode-locked laser to output an optical signal having a plurality of phase-locked modes, an optical splitter to power split the optical signal into a transmitter optical signal and a receiver optical signal; a transmitter apparatus to receive the transmitter optical signal and comprising an optical filter to select two of the modes, an optical modulator to modulate a part of the transmitter optical signal to form at least one phase modulated optical signal, and a photodetector to heterodyne the phase modulated optical signal with one of the modes without a corresponding phase modulation to form an RF signal for transmission; and a receiver apparatus arranged to receive an RF signal and the receiver optical signal and comprising an optical modulator to modulate the receiver optical signal with the received RF signal; and an optical to electrical signal conversion apparatus to convert the modulated receiver optical signal into a corresponding electrical signal.

Radio frequency signal transceiver, coherent radar receiver and method of processing radio frequency signals

A method of converting an optical communications signal having a differentially encoded multilevel modulation format into communications traffic bits, the multilevel modulation format having a plurality of constellation points, the method comprising: receiving a consecutive pair of symbol signals of said optical communications signal, the pair of symbol signals being arranged to differentially encode a plurality of communications traffic bits; and generating a plurality of optical binary signals in dependence on the symbol signals, each optical binary signal having a respective binary signal level, wherein the optical binary signals form optical versions of the encoded communications traffic bits.

Method of converting an optical communications signal and an optical receiver

An optical processing circuit, such as a combinatorial network, comprises an arrangement of optical logic gates suitable for use in combination with a switched optical node of the kind having at least first and second input ports and two output ports, the node being configurable into either a cross or a bar configuration, and in which the optical processing circuit is arranged so as to receive at least three optical input signals which respectively comprise a packet identifier signal PIH which identifies whether or not a first input signal is present at the first input port of the switched optical node, the first input port being assigned a higher priority than the second input port, a first destination address AH indicating the output port of the switched optical node to which a first information carrying signal, received at the first input port, is intended to be passed, and a second destination address AL indicating the output port of the switched optical node to which a second information carrying signal, received at the second input port, is intended to be passed, and in which the processing circuit is configured to generate from these three optical input signals the following optical output signals: a contention resolution control (CRC) signal which has a first value if a routing conflict is present and a second if it is not; and a switch control generation (SCG) signal indicating whether the associated switched optical node is to be set in a cross or bar configuration.

All optical processing circuit for conflict resolution and switch configuration in a 2&#xd7;2 optical node

A planar waveguide circuit comprises a first optical splitter to receive an input optical signal, a second optical splitter to receive a reference optical signal, a first optical signal combiner, and a second optical signal combiner. First and second optical waveguides are provided to couple first and second outputs of the first optical splitter to respective inputs of the first and second optical signal combiners. Third and fourth optical waveguides are provided to couple first and second outputs of the second optical splitter to respective inputs of the first and second optical signal combiners. A phase-shifter is provided located to affect the phase of an optical signal propagating in one of the third and fourth optical waveguides. The first and second optical splitters and the first and second optical signal combiners are arranged such that the first, second, third and fourth optical waveguides do not intersect one another.

Planar waveguide circuit and optical receiver

The present invention relates to Digital-to-Analog conversion in the optical or photonic domain. The present invention provides a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) () arranged to receive an N-bit digital optical signal () and to process the N-bit digital optical signal to generate an analog optical signal (). The DAC comprises a photonic circuit () arranged to adjust the amplitude of each bit of the N-bit digital optical signal dependent on the amplitudes of at least one of the other bits of the N-bit digital optical signal. The amplitudes are adjusted using a non-linear optical effect in order to generate respective outputs for each bit. The DAC also comprises a photonic combiner (145) arranged to combine the outputs for each bit to generate the analog output signal ().

Optical digital-to-analog converstion

An all-optical contention manager includes at least two inputs and at least two outputs. The outputs are configured to output signals to a Banyan switch. The contention manager detects and resolves routing contentions between incoming optical signals prior to outputting the signals to the Banyan switch. The signals have tags that include routing information. A photonic comparator in the contention manager compares the tags of incoming optical signals in order to detect contention.

All optical batcher banyan switch, batcher switch, banyan switch and contention manager

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Mantova, Italy

Antonella Bogoni