Patent ID: 8571412

Claim:
An apparatus for simulating radio frequency (RF) signal propagation characteristics in a wireless communication network, comprising: a first RF terminal and a second RF terminal; a first optical modulator in electrical communication with the first RF terminal; a first optical delay line in optical communication with the first optical modulator; a first optical demodulator in optical communication with the first optical delay line and in electrical communication with the first RF terminal; an N-way optical combiner in optical communication with the first optical delay line, wherein N is at least two; a second optical modulator in electrical communication with the second RF terminal; a second optical delay line in optical communication with the second optical modulator and the N-way optical combiner; and a second optical demodulator in optical communication with the second optical delay line and in electrical communication with the second RF terminal, wherein the first optical modulator and the second optical modulator each comprise: an RF isolator, a laser in electrical communication with the RF isolator, and a circulator in optical communication with the laser, and wherein the first optical demodulator and the second optical demodulator each comprise: a dispersion compensator in optical communication with the circulator, a detector in optical communication with the dispersion compensator, and a gain stage in optical communication with the detector and in electrical communication with the RF isolator.