Patent ID: 11947043
Assignee: ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC.
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 13:
14. A system, comprising:
an optical phased array configured to:
receive a laser signal from a signal laser; and
output an optical beam having an optical wave front, the optical beam based at least in part on the laser signal;

a photodiode array of photodiodes, each photodiode configured to:
receive at least a portion of the optical beam and at least a portion of an optical plane wave beam, wherein the optical plane wave beam is formed based at least on a local oscillator (LO) laser that outputs a laser beam having a different wavelength from the signal laser, wherein the signal laser and the LO laser are phase locked; and
output an electronic signal based on the at least the portion of the optical beam and the at least a portion of the optical plane wave beam; and

a radiofrequency (RF) antenna element array of RF antenna elements, each RF antenna element electrically coupled to one of the photodiodes, wherein the RF antenna element array is configured to output an RF beam having an RF wave front based on received electronic signals from the photodiode array;
wherein the RF antenna element array is electrically coupled to the photodiode array, wherein the RF antenna element array is fabricated on first side of a substrate, wherein the photodiode array is fabricated on a second side of the substrate.