Photonic generation of microwave arbitrary waveforms

In this paper, techniques to generate microwave arbitrary waveforms based on all-fiber solutions are reviewed, with an emphasis on the system architectures based on direct space-to-time pulse shaping, spectral-shaping and wavelength-to-time mapping, temporal pulse shaping, and photonic microwave delay-line filtering. The generation of phase-coded and frequency-chirped microwave waveforms is discussed. The challenges in the implementation of the systems for practical applications are also discussed.

► Techniques to generate arbitrary microwave waveforms are reviewed. ► Microwave arbitrary waveform generation (AWG) based on direct space-to-time is discussed. ► Microwave AWG based on spectral-shaping and wavelength-to-time mapping is discussed. ► Microwave AWG based on temporal pulse shaping is discussed. ► Microwave AWG based on photonic microwave delay-line filtering is discussed. ► Examples for generation of frequency-chirped and phase-coded microwave waveforms are provided.