Patent ID: 8750720

Claim:
A photonic impulse generator comprising: a periodically chirped photonic source configured to generate a wavelength swept output; a single-frequency photonic source configured to generate an output at a substantially constant optical frequency, wherein the frequency of the single-frequency photonic source falls within a frequency range of the periodically chirped photonic source; a data modulator in communication with at least one component selected from the group consisting of the single-frequency photonic source and the periodically chirped photonic source, wherein the data modulator is programmed to encode a data signal onto at least one output selected from the group consisting of the output of the periodically chirped photonic source and the output of the single-frequency photonic source; an optical coupler positioned to couple the output of the single-frequency photonic source to an output of the periodically chirped photonic source, resulting in a combined photonic signal; a photodetector positioned to receive the combined photonic signal and generate a combined electrical signal; and a filter in electrical communication with an output of the photodetector to receive the combined electrical signal to generate an encoded impulse signal, wherein the data signal is encoded on the encoded impulse signal.