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Why receiving a purchase order from NEC Corp. is an important milestone for RFOptic

RFoF

Why receiving a purchase order from NEC Corp. is an important milestone for RFOptic

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As RFOptic, we are proud to have received our first purchase order for our RFoF offering from NEC Corp. Founded in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Limited, NEC Corporation is headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan with operations across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific. NEC provides information and network technology solutions to the aviation, aerospace, healthcare, agriculture, retail, broadcasting, logistics, finance, government, hospitality, manufacturing, transportation, and telecom industries. NEC Corporation is also active in the field of RF over Fiber.

At RFOptic, we offer our customers various RFoF solutions. These 5G subsystems, using fiber optic transmissions, are designed to meet the growing demand for active remote antennas, coax cables replacement in test facilities, and 5G/6G network testing. We also provide a DAS extension solution, in case the cable solution cannot meet the required system parameters, and a 5G GPS over Fiber (GPSoF) solution. Our 5G mm-Wave active antenna solution consists of our customized RF over Fiber high SFDR for 5G mm-Wave active antenna arrays to handle and support the required distance and bandwidths.

RFOptic also provides RFoF solution to Electronic Warfare and Radar vendors.

To learn more, contact us.

(Image courtesy of NEC Labs)

RFOptic’s 5G, RFoF, and ODL Trends & Future Predictions

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RFOptic's 5G, RFoF, and ODL Trends & Future Predictions5G will be taking off with the 3.5 GHz band playing a key role

During the last months of 2018, the US regulators are considering a key set of rules associated with priority access license to spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band spectrum. In October, the FCC announced that it will be creating 15 channels within the 3.550-3.700 GHz band (previously solely reserved for U.S. naval radar use) – 7 will be auctioned to “priority access licenses” and 8 will be offered for general access. The Navy will get priority across the band wherever and whenever it needs it. Outside of the US, 3.5 GHz is seen as the prime mid-band spectrum for 5G applications, and auctions are expected to start at the end of 2019.

The demand for RF over fiber will continue to rise

The growing demand for RF over Fiber is driven by important features that RFoF solutions deliver, such as a very low signal loss over several kilometers without any requirement of amplification. This makes RFoF appealing for defense applications since maintaining flat frequency response across the whole frequency band & flexibility along with the feature of being lightweight is crucial. Last but not least, RFoF is quite cost-effective compared to high-end coaxial cables, and the need to implement slope compensation amplifiers.

Research facilities and testing labs will drive the demand for Optical Delay Lines

For any research facility or testing lab, one of the most critical elements of experiments or tests is the optical delay line. ODLs will be part of a growing number of applications such as phased array antennas, optical time-division multiplexing, optical coherence tomography (OCT), microwave photonics, fiber sensors, and optical interferometry.

Customers will demand a larger variety of enclosures

When it comes to RFoF and ODL solutions, one-size-fits-all does not apply. Customers want the enclosure as well as the solution to fit their needs. For example, for installation near the antenna where many links come in parallel, the customer needs a large outdoor enclosure that houses e.g., Mux, a hub, N-type, QPC Qlink / MPO PS 28 to 5VDC. But when calibrating radar systems, the customer wants a mini ruggedized enclosure. This means that RFoF and ODL providers must be able to offer their solutions with a choice from various enclosures.

Customers will demand increased interoperability

Customers want the Tx or Rx units that they purchase from a new supplier to communicate with their existing equipment. Any new Tx that they purchase should work seamlessly with their existing (third-party) Rx (and vice versa). When budgets are limited, this kind of compatibility will become a main requirement. Providers must ensure that in cases like this, their solutions work seamlessly with existing equipment provided by other companies.

To learn more, visit rfoptic.customcode.co.il. For updates, subscribe to our newsletter, read our blog, or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.

A Short Introduction to RFOptic and Its Solutions

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RFOptic is a leading provider and vendor of RF over Fiber (RFoF) and Optical Delay Line (ODL) solutions as well as embedded RF Optical solutions for OEM customers in the telecommunications, aerospace & defense, broadcasting, and infrastructure industries.

RFOptic is known for its RFoF links, multi-link / multi-channel RFoF systems and subsystems to meet customer requirements, including diverse enclosures (indoor and outdoor), and supporting multiple RFoF links with monitoring and management capabilities. RFOptic’s RF over Fiber solutions offer the best cost performance ratio, featuring noise figure of 5dB and gain link of around 40dB.

The programmable low frequency RF over Fiber units (0.5MHz to 6GHz) are based on direct modulation. The MiniQ High SFDR series indirect modulation product family supports applications from 10MHz to 40GHz with low noise and high spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR). RFOptic’s Optical Delay Line solutions are available as “fixed” ODL with up to 8 predefined time delay values in a single unit, or as “variable” supporting up to 255 delay states. All Optical Delay Lines feature delays of up to 250 μsec (>250 μsec upon request) while maintaining excellent performance. Customers can add RFoF functionality with RFOptic’s compact OEM board for high volume requests. The company’s unique software communicates with our programmable RFoF units, offering you unparalleled flexibility for you RFoF or ODL deployments.

In addition, RFOptic also develops, integrates, and delivers the most cost-effective and state-of-the-art product development of mixed microwave and optical solutions to companies worldwide. The company’s extensive experience and know-how overcomes the technological challenges which customers face, from original concept up to production.

The procedure for customized solution consists of 5 steps from request to implementation:

  1. Getting the requirements from the customer
  2. Building the concept
  3. Defining the specifications and setting the budget
  4. Building a proof of concept for approval
  5. Going into serial production

For more information, download our corporate brochure or please contact us.

RFOptic has launched its high frequency links with ultra-low spurious level for RADAR and EW applications

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At the request of customers, RFOptic has now launched 12GHz, 18GHz, 20GHz, 30GHz, and 40GHz RF over Fiber links that have an ultra-low spurious level of less than -95dBm. This means that RFOptic’s MiniQ RFoF series provide spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) better than -112dB/Hz. Spurious RFoF solutions are essential in order to mix non-harmonic spurious signals with the input RF signals at the output of the RFoF link. The spurious signals increase the Probability of False Alarm (PFA) and Minimum Detection Signal level (MDS) for EW and RADAR systems and degrade the Adjacent Channel Power Ratio (ACPR) in communication systems.

On a technical level, achieving extremely low spurious levels is a major challenge, particularly in small and tight RFoF modules where power consumption must be kept as low as possible. Many applications can only be supported by a design that achieves low spurious levels across extremes of the RFoF link bandwidth. Applications such as Optical Delay Lines, used in many RADAR test ranges, require ultra-low spurious to test and optimize extremely sensitive systems.

Thanks to the efforts of RFOptic’s R&D department, the new offering will achieve this critical parameter, which opens the market for RADAR and EW as well as other applications.

In general, a high spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is desirable when multiple signals of very different power levels are expected to coexist. A high SFDR RFoF solution simplifies signal conditioning requirements that are required to separate true signals from the unwanted spurious. There are well-known techniques, which are intended to identify the spurious signals and null them including LO dither, adjustable ALC, and power range stepping.

However, these techniques complicate the extraction of the real signals of interest and require extra signal processing, which now can be reduced or re-directed to deal with the real input signals rather than with artifacts of the RFoF link. During antenna, RADAR, or communications system testing, high SFDR is essential due to the typical large signal amplitude ratios between main and side lobes or between close and distant targets. The same applies to DF/ELINT systems, which have to handle strong jammers concurrent with weak signals of interest.

To learn more, click here or contact RFOptic at sales@rfoptic.customcode.co.il.

RFOptic has launched its innovative controllable phased-matched 6GHz RFoF modules

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At RFOptic, we listen to our customers to provide solutions that they want and need. So when we got requests for programmable phased-matched 6GHz solutions, it was a no-brainer for us to have our R&D department working on it. (To download the brochure, click here)

The palm-size analog RFoF modules are used to convert RF signals to optical signals to carry over long distances. The Tx unit using an optical transmitter, converts RF to Optical signal and the Rx unit converts back to the RF signal. The two units are connected through customer’s single-mode fiber.

RFOptic’s RF over Fiber modules (RFoF) are suitable for Phased Array Radar, Electronic Warfare, and interferometry applications. RFOptic CWDM 6.0GHz RFoF 4 link system is phase-matched up to ±6˚ up to 5.7GHz. Each of the four links is comprised of a Tx unit with LNA and an Rx unit, both with variable attenuators that enable adjustment of the Noise Figure, Input P1dB, and IP3 over a wide range of values. The LNA can be activated through an RFoF software tool allowing RF input power in the range of -100 dBm/1MHz for wideband applications, with low Noise Figure of 6 dB. The RFoF link has excellent gain flatness with 0.5dB gain tracking between different links.

A user-friendly RFoF software enables adjustment of the RF and Optical parameters, such as link gain, Noise Figure, P1dB, Optical power, LED indication, and module information, either locally or remotely. In addition, the phased-matched 4 links DDM has HTML/SNMP interface so management and monitoring can be done remotely

Furthermore, the RFoF link has full diagnostic capability, including Tx, Rx and complete link test (Optical and RF). These features save cost of test equipment and provide real-time diagnostic of any deployed link. The link gain calculator helps to calculate the link gain and the optical predicted parameters for RFOptic’s programmable RFoF family.

Phased-Matched 6GHz RFoF Module Key Features:

  • Next generation RFoF system with significant performances improvement.
  • Supports up to 6.0GHz
  • Phased matched CWDM system of ±6 0 up to 5.7GHz
  • Gain matched 6.0GHz full band of ±2.5 dB
  • Better linearity, excellent gain flatness, and Tx, Rx and Link gain control
  • Noise Figure down to 6 dB with LNA with MDS ~168 dB/Hz for very low incoming signals
  • Internal Microcontroller allows RF and Optical control, enabled by software
  • End-to-end diagnostics reduces installation and maintenance time, enabled by software
  • Gain variation S21 (fo) of ±1 dB for 90° C variation, utilizing special algorithm
  • Remote management by GUI installed on PC
  • Impedances of 50 Ohms and 75 Ohm

To learn more, including the test results of the programmable 6.0 GHz RFoF phased matched system, download the datasheet or contact RFOptic at sales@rfoptic.customcode.co.il