Broadband optical cosite interference cancellation

Here, we provide an overview of broadband cosite interference reduction using an optical system to perform incoherent counter-phase modulation and subtraction. The equation governing interference cancellation depth is derived and discussed with respect to two key parameters, attenuation and delay accuracy. Cancellation depth is then examined with respect to signal bandwidth and device parameters to provide a context for predicted cancellation performance. Experimentally recorded interference cancellation data is presented along with predicted performance to show the agreement of theory and data. 1 Introduction Photonic devices are fundamentally attractive for applications involving data transmission in the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum. The inherent features of photonic links, such as resistance to electromagnetic interference, low-loss fiber transmission, high precision tuning, and large instantaneous bandwidth in the RF spectrum, offer unique advantages compared with traditional RF electronics. 1 Radio-over-fiber systems have been implemented in applications such as wireless communications, optical beam forming, arbitrary waveform generation, long-haul antenna remoting, and recently cosite interference reduction.