Channelized Time-and Space-integrating Acousto-optical Processor

Abstract

A novel channelized, hybrid time- and space-integrating acousto-optic (AO) spectrum analyzer is described. The architecture consists of two acousto-optic cells in a crossed cell configuration. The first acousto-optic cell is a wide bandwidth device that performs space-integrating spectral analysis and channelizes signals according to carrier frequency. The second acousto-optic cell, in conjunction with a modulated source, performs time-integrating spectral analysis of the signal envelope using the chirp algorithm. One possible application of the processor is to determine the carrier frequency and pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of received radar signals.