Patent ID: 7302185

Claim:
A radio frequency (RF) signal detector and block converter comprising: a first fiber optic transmitter (FOT) having an RF signal input and to generate a multiple sideband optical signal including at least a first sideband and a second sideband on a first optical output; a second fiber optic transmitter having a reference signal input and to generate a second optical signal including at least a reference sideband on a second optical output; a first wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical filter connected to the first optical output of the first FOT to separate the first sideband into a plurality of first sideband channels, and to separate the second sideband into a plurality of second sideband channels; a second WDM optical filter connected to the second optical output of the second FOT to separate the reference sideband into a plurality of reference sideband channels; a detector connected to the first WDM optical filter to receive the plurality of first sideband channels, and comprising a camera and digital processor to detect an active channel from among the plurality of first sideband channels; a first fiber array connected to the first WDM optical filter to receive the plurality of second sideband channels; a second fiber array connected to the second WDM optical filter to receive the plurality of reference sideband channels; an optical coupler connected to the first and second fiber arrays to generate a combined signal by combining the plurality of second sideband channels and the plurality of reference sideband channels; and a photodetection block to receive and process the combined signal based upon the detected active channel.