SBIR-STTR Award

MagiQ Technologies, Inc. and The University of Connecticut have teamed to develop a Low-noise Optical Wideband Analog-to-Digital converter (LOWAD). LOWAD uses a noise reduction processor feed by optically oversampled high-resolution quantization data to effectively lower the noise floor of the RF digital receiver.

Benefit:
This new converter technology will improve the sensitivity and/or extend the range of digital RF receivers. In military applications this translates into reduced transmitter SWAP, improved early warning detection, extended range target detection, and enhance signal surveillance capabilities. In the commercial sector this technology applies to improved cellular coverage.

Keywords:
environmental noise, environmental noise, optoelectronic sampling, analog-to-digital converters, RF, noise reduction, wideband, noise figure, noise floor

The dynamic range of conventional, state-of-the-art ADCs is limited by the effective number of bits (ENOB) of resolution. MagiQs SPIRAL uses novel techniques to overcome these limitations. In this program we will combine custom hardware along with COTS hardware and proprietary MagiQ algorithms to significantly increase the ENOB. The prototype system will far exceed the performance of standard ADCs at RF frequencies. In RF communication links, SPIRAL will provide a 30dB improvement in the ability to receive weak signals-of-interest in the presence of high-power interference. When dealing with moderate power levels, and when combined with cancellation methods and algorithms, it is projected to allow the use of full-duplex communication over a single channel simultaneously shared by both a transmitter and a receiver.

Benefit:
It is widely believed that the market for interference mitigation hardware will grow dramatically over the next several years. The factors driving this growth include the proliferation of antennas on aircraft, ships, ground vehicles, and satellite communications in the commercial markets. The increase in the number of antennas required in modern RF systems has put severe pressure on the space allowed for a specific antenna system. As a result, co-site interference has increased substantially. This has created a market that can be uniquely addressed by MagiQs capability. Our SPIRAL High-ENOB ADC will provide HF receivers with unprecedented sensitivity in the presence of high-power interference. There is an urgent need for this capability across both the Department of Defense and the commercial sector. The Navy will need hundreds of these high-ENO receivers, and it is expected that the USAF will need thousands. In related applications, there is expected to be significant C4ISR systems deployments, and there are planned deployments of thousands of radio systems and these systems can benefit from variations of our technology. Other related application areas including wideband cancellation on Navy ships to reduce the cost and size of existing EW cancellation hardware, high power cancellation to enable more closely spaced antennas, cancellation of high power JCREW jammers, remoting cancellation hardware below decks on Navy ships, and shared antenna apertures for tight-frequency spaced, multi-GHz, high bandwidth communication links. The commercial sector has urgent needs as well for applications related to satellite deployments.

Keywords:
high resolution AD, Digital IF (DIFI), High ENOB ADC, HF quantizer, Thin Film Lithium Niobate (TFLN), Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC), low Vpi