Aerospace & Defense Technology - June 2022 - 12

Radio Frequency-over-Fiber
GPS
antenna
RF cable
RFoF6 TX
GPSoF TX
RFoF3
TRM
LANoF
GPSofF RX
LANoF
RFoF3
TRM
RADOX FO cable (ruggedized)
Illustration of a secure portable military communications installation in the field.
gration of higher density EW payloads
onboard next-generation airborne,
naval, and armored vehicle platforms.
* The proliferation of the use of remote-piloted
and AI-enabled unmanned systems
in Command, Control, Communications,
Computers, Cyber-Defense
and Combat Systems and Intelligence,
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance
(C6ISR) campaigns.
The combination of these three initiatives
creates the following paradox: how
can critical communications infrastructure
achieve the volume, bandwidth,
and range demands of the modern battlefield,
while protecting transmit and
receive elements from detection, manipulation,
and destruction?
Legacy communications infrastructure
typically consists of long runs of
coaxial cable used to relay transmit/
receive signals between antenna elements
and data processing equipment.
In addition to inducing a significant
amount of signal loss, coaxial lines used
in such infrastructure are not electrically
isolated from the ambient environment.
This creates an opportunity for
12
enemy SIGINT/ELINT equipment to
detect low-level radio signal leakage
from the coaxial line and trace these
signals to the source. This ultimately
provides the location of the antenna
and the command post where data processing
is taking place. Once the antenna
has been located, jamming, spoofing,
or hard-kill measures can be taken
by an enemy force to attack the antenna
feed. Once a command post has
been located, there is a clear and dire
threat to personnel safety and operational
capability.
Signal Processing at the Antenna
Several solutions exist today for
reducing the spectral footprint and
signal losses of remote antenna installations,
when compared to traditional
passive coaxial cable infrastructure.
The most prominent of these solutions
entails placing a signal processing
capability at the antenna. Up-/
down-conversion and digitization at
the antenna enables range extension
and signal security by placing transmit/receive
signals onto ethernet conmobilityengineeringtech.com
ADT
Feature 2 Optics 0622_1.indd 12
Intro
Cov
ToC
+
nections between the antenna and the
data processing center.
However, this strategy requires a great
deal of expensive equipment, including
thermal control infrastructure, to be
placed at the antenna to ensure signal
integrity is maintained while the analog
signal is manipulated under dynamic
operating conditions. For communication
network installations linking multiple
remote transmit and receive elements
to a central data processing
center, the cost of utilizing this signal
processing strategy can become quite
prohibitive. In addition, as the frequencies
and bandwidths of future secure
communications change, analog signal
processing equipment and connectivity
must keep pace.
The Case for RF-Over-Fiber
There exists a viable alternative solution
for extending and securing remote
communication links, while eliminating
the need for expensive decentralized
signal processing infrastructure.
Radio Frequency-over-Fiber (RFoF) technology
- the practice of converting
Aerospace & Defense Technology, June 2022
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A
µ
5/25/22 3:25 PM
FO cable
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Aerospace & Defense Technology - June 2022

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