Long-distance telecom-fiber transfer of a radio-frequency reference for radio astronomy

Yabai He; Kenneth G.H. Baldwin; Brian J. Orr; R. Bruce Warrington; Michael J. Wouters; Andre N. Luiten; Peter Mirtschin; Tasso Tzioumis; Chris Phillips; Jamie Stevens; Brett Lennon; Scott Munting; Guido Aben; Thomas Newlands; Tim Rayner

doi:10.1364/OPTICA.5.000138

Long-distance telecom-fiber transfer of a radio-frequency reference for radio astronomy

Yabai He, Kenneth G.H. Baldwin, Brian J. Orr^*, R. Bruce Warrington, Michael J. Wouters, Andre N. Luiten, Peter Mirtschin, Tasso Tzioumis, Chris Phillips, Jamie Stevens, Brett Lennon, Scott Munting, Guido Aben, Thomas Newlands, Tim Rayner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

112 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) for high-resolution astronomical imaging requires phase-stable frequency references at widely separated radio-telescope antennas. For the first time to our knowledge, we have disseminated a suitable radio-frequency (RF) reference for VLBI over a “real-world” telecom optical-fiber link between radio telescopes that are >100 km apart, by means of an innovative phase-conjugation technique. Bidirectional optical amplification is used in parallel with live traffic, and phase perturbations in the effective optical-fiber path length are compensated. This RF-over-fiber approach obviates the need for separate hydrogen masers at each antenna, offering significant advantages for radio-astronomy facilities such as the Square Kilometer Array.

Original language	English
Article number	2334-2536/18/020138-09
Pages (from-to)	138-146
Number of pages	9
Journal	Optica
Volume	5
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5.000138
Publication status	Published - 20 Feb 2018

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He, Y., Baldwin, K. G. H., Orr, B. J., Warrington, R. B., Wouters, M. J., Luiten, A. N., Mirtschin, P., Tzioumis, T., Phillips, C., Stevens, J., Lennon, B., Munting, S., Aben, G., Newlands, T., & Rayner, T. (2018). Long-distance telecom-fiber transfer of a radio-frequency reference for radio astronomy. Optica, 5(2), 138-146. Article 2334-2536/18/020138-09. https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5.000138

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title = "Long-distance telecom-fiber transfer of a radio-frequency reference for radio astronomy",

abstract = "Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) for high-resolution astronomical imaging requires phase-stable frequency references at widely separated radio-telescope antennas. For the first time to our knowledge, we have disseminated a suitable radio-frequency (RF) reference for VLBI over a “real-world” telecom optical-fiber link between radio telescopes that are >100 km apart, by means of an innovative phase-conjugation technique. Bidirectional optical amplification is used in parallel with live traffic, and phase perturbations in the effective optical-fiber path length are compensated. This RF-over-fiber approach obviates the need for separate hydrogen masers at each antenna, offering significant advantages for radio-astronomy facilities such as the Square Kilometer Array.",

author = "Yabai He and Baldwin, {Kenneth G.H.} and Orr, {Brian J.} and Warrington, {R. Bruce} and Wouters, {Michael J.} and Luiten, {Andre N.} and Peter Mirtschin and Tasso Tzioumis and Chris Phillips and Jamie Stevens and Brett Lennon and Scott Munting and Guido Aben and Thomas Newlands and Tim Rayner",

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doi = "10.1364/OPTICA.5.000138",

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He, Y, Baldwin, KGH, Orr, BJ, Warrington, RB, Wouters, MJ, Luiten, AN, Mirtschin, P, Tzioumis, T, Phillips, C, Stevens, J, Lennon, B, Munting, S, Aben, G, Newlands, T & Rayner, T 2018, 'Long-distance telecom-fiber transfer of a radio-frequency reference for radio astronomy', Optica, vol. 5, no. 2, 2334-2536/18/020138-09, pp. 138-146. https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5.000138

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AU - He, Yabai

AU - Baldwin, Kenneth G.H.

AU - Orr, Brian J.

AU - Warrington, R. Bruce

AU - Wouters, Michael J.

AU - Luiten, Andre N.

AU - Mirtschin, Peter

AU - Tzioumis, Tasso

AU - Phillips, Chris

AU - Stevens, Jamie

AU - Lennon, Brett

AU - Munting, Scott

AU - Aben, Guido

AU - Newlands, Thomas

AU - Rayner, Tim

PY - 2018/2/20

Y1 - 2018/2/20

N2 - Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) for high-resolution astronomical imaging requires phase-stable frequency references at widely separated radio-telescope antennas. For the first time to our knowledge, we have disseminated a suitable radio-frequency (RF) reference for VLBI over a “real-world” telecom optical-fiber link between radio telescopes that are >100 km apart, by means of an innovative phase-conjugation technique. Bidirectional optical amplification is used in parallel with live traffic, and phase perturbations in the effective optical-fiber path length are compensated. This RF-over-fiber approach obviates the need for separate hydrogen masers at each antenna, offering significant advantages for radio-astronomy facilities such as the Square Kilometer Array.

AB - Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) for high-resolution astronomical imaging requires phase-stable frequency references at widely separated radio-telescope antennas. For the first time to our knowledge, we have disseminated a suitable radio-frequency (RF) reference for VLBI over a “real-world” telecom optical-fiber link between radio telescopes that are >100 km apart, by means of an innovative phase-conjugation technique. Bidirectional optical amplification is used in parallel with live traffic, and phase perturbations in the effective optical-fiber path length are compensated. This RF-over-fiber approach obviates the need for separate hydrogen masers at each antenna, offering significant advantages for radio-astronomy facilities such as the Square Kilometer Array.

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JO - Optica

JF - Optica

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M1 - 2334-2536/18/020138-09

ER -

Long-distance telecom-fiber transfer of a radio-frequency reference for radio astronomy

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