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Electro-Optic Modulator Bias Controller

Sponsored by Critical Frequency Design

Project Summary

The Electro-optic Modulator Bias Controller aims to improve radio communication by incorporating laser optical components in order to control the in-built laser module. This will then allow signals to be read by the laser module which then is processed by the device’s Microcontroller. The end result will allow the user to read and adjust for laser bias between sender and receiver devices. The project’s results would be useful to the sponsor, Critical Frequency Design who will take an improve upon the design. Currently, other modulators do not incorporate the use of optic components and as such have a limitation on their accuracy/use. Other applications our project can be used in is telecommunication.

Group photo with CFD Rep. Micah Jenkins
About
Soldiers on the battlefield generally use radio transmissions to communicate. These radio frequency (RF) signals contain important amplitude and phase information decoded in real-time. It is common practice to implement a bias controller with a dither tone to ensure the signal phase is not prone to environmental noise. While capable of maintaining phase information, dither tones can add additional noise to a signal, making it indistinguishable from other forms of noise, such as doppler shifts. To combat this, an Electro-optic Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM) can decode the received RF signal effectively without using a dither tone, hence why Critical frequency Design (CFD) approached the team to create a ditherless Electro-optic Mach-Zehnder Modulator using photo-optic components.
Presentation VideoDownload
Demonstration VideoDownload

Contact Information:
Nolan Vild
Email: Nolan_Vild@knights.ucf.edu
Phone: 407-773-3769

Andy Nguyen
Email: andynguyen0315@knights.ucf.edu
Phone: 954-913-9906

Trent Tachin
Email: trent.tanchin@knights.ucf.edu

Nawaf Yousuf Awadh Al Alawi
Email: nawafyousuf.alalawi@knights.ucf.edu
Phone: 321-460-0601

Critical Frequency Design Contact:
Micah Jenkins
Email: mjenkins@Criticalfrequency.com