Phase modulation parallel optical delay detector for microwave angle-of-arrival measurement with accuracy monitored

A novel phase modulation parallel optical delay detector is proposed for microwave angle-of-arrival measurement with accuracy monitored by using only one dual-electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator. A theoretical model is built up to analyze the proposed system including measurement accuracy monitoring. The spatial delay measurement is translated into the phase shift between two replicas of a microwave signal. Thanks to the accuracy monitoring, the phase shifts from 5 degrees to 165 degrees are measured with less than 3.1 degrees measurement error. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America