Implementation of Long Reach Hybrid Photonic Radar System and convergence over FSO and PON Networks

Descripción del proyecto

Las tecnologías ópticas podrían ayudarnos a «ver» mejor con los radares

Los radares han recorrido un largo camino desde que se acuñó el término por primera vez durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial como acrónimo de «RAdio Detection And Ranging». Actualmente, existen muchos tipos de tecnologías de radar disponibles o en desarrollo. Todas ellas se basan en el principio de emitir una señal electromagnética y analizar la señal reflejada para la detección o el seguimiento de objetos y la evaluación de la velocidad. El proyecto Photonic Radar, financiado con fondos europeos, desarrolla un concepto de radar híbrido basado en la fotónica que depende de láseres para crear y analizar las señales. El sistema avanzado debería mejorar la precisión y la resolución de la imagen, y se pondrá a prueba en un sistema de transporte inteligente.

Objetivo

The conventional radar systems, operating in mm-wave (MMW) i.e. beyond 30 GHz, are exposed to high free-path losses (≥ 1 dB/km) and the situation becomes more punitive under severe environment conditions, for instance, Heavy rain and fog. Moreover, the traditional radar distribution networks are realized with conventional cables or space-feeds that results in a massive, complex and inflexible system. To overcome these issues, the hybrid photonic-based radar system (PHRAD) emerges as a promising candidate, providing low-loss, immunity to EM interference and high bandwidth capacity. These robust properties of photonics play a vital role in realization of PHRAD transceiver with improved navigation and detection. Although, the possibility of multiband PHRAD, capable to work in both S-and X-band, becomes feasible that reduces the weight, size and cost of the system. Alternatively, the state-of-the-art electronic techniques have not the required potential to make such radars feasible. The key goal of the proposed project is to develop a PHRAD transceiver tunable over a wide frequency range (≥ 40GHz) and immune to phase fluctuations in order to realize a robust navigation and detection system capable of providing high imagery-resolution and accuracy. The proposed work will be carried out in three phases. In phase I, Mode lock Lasers will be cultivated to generate wide-range and phase-stable radar signals in MMW. These wide-bandwidth signals (40-80GHz) will help to provide high imagery-resolution with accurate speed-computation of objects that lead to a reliable and secure navigation to the autonomous vehicles. In phase II, a multiband PHRAD transceiver will be designed to provide high frequency-flexibility that provides capability to track any frequency signal within S-or X-band. The phase III is dedicated to the implementation of the developed multiband PHRAD in real-time environment, especially in intelligent transport system (ITS), for its testing and evaluation.