Next-generation radar employs photonics
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027778
BBC : To better track aircraft, researchers in Italy have developed a photonics-based fully digital radar system. PHODIR uses fiber optics and a single pulsed laser to generate, transmit, and receive more precise radar signals than possible with current systems. Besides being cheaper and lighter, it works over greater bandwidth and can transmit over more frequencies. PHODIR promises to be able to perform multiple functions, such as scan both a plane’s cockpit and its immediate surroundings and transmit live streaming video as well as radar surveillance data. Although its range does not exceed that of current radar systems, it could prove valuable in highly congested airspaces for air traffic control and in wireless communications.
