Electronic Signal Blanking in Shared Optical Transceivers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical transceiver systems face challenges with receiver saturation due to backscattered or reflected transmitter energy, leading to operational penalties such as increased physical space requirements, alignment constraints, and reduced sensitivity, especially in shared path architectures.
Innovation Solution
An electronic signal blanking system that alerts the receiver to imminent transmitter pulses, temporarily disabling the detector to prevent energy accumulation and rapidly dissipating any charges, allowing for simultaneous transmit and receive operations with minimal operational penalties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If split path architectures are used to separate transmit and receive functions, then receiver saturation from transmitter energy is reduced, but physical space requirements increase and mechanical alignment tolerances become harsher
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the transmit and receive optical paths into a single shared path, eliminating the need for separate physical channels. This is achieved by using electronic signal blanking to prevent transmitter energy from saturating the receiver, allowing both functions to use the same aperture and optical components, thereby reducing physical space requirements while maintaining receiver protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical separation methods (physical path separation, baffles, barriers) with an electronic control mechanism. The electronic signal blanking system uses voltage-controlled switches and timing circuits to dynamically block the receiver during transmitter pulses, substituting mechanical alignment and physical barriers with electronic control for a more compact design.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If baffles or barriers are installed to prevent transmitter energy from scattering back into the receiver, then alignment tolerances are relaxed, but receiver aperture is occluded and sensitivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful effect of backscattered energy by using electronic signal blanking to dynamically disable the receiver during transmitter pulses. Instead of physically blocking energy with baffles that obstruct the aperture, the system electronically prevents the receiver from processing the harmful signals, maintaining full aperture openness and sensitivity while eliminating saturation effects.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If spectral filtering is used to attenuate transmitter intensity, then receiver saturation is prevented, but auto-boresighting and self-alignment checks become impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by using electronic signal blanking to prevent the receiver from processing transmitter energy before it can cause saturation. The blanking signal is generated in advance based on transmitter pulse timing, allowing the receiver to remain sensitive and ready for normal operations including auto-boresighting, while preventing harmful energy from being processed.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If mechanical shuttering is used to block the receiver FoV during transmitter emission, then transmitter energy is prevented from reaching the receiver, but operational speed is limited and reliability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical shuttering with an electronic signal blanking system that uses voltage-controlled switches and electronic timing circuits. This electronic approach eliminates mechanical moving parts, achieving much faster response speeds (limited only by electronic switching times rather than mechanical inertia) and improved reliability through the absence of mechanical wear and failure modes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables simultaneous operation of transmit and receive functions with negligible impact on the receiver, eliminating saturation effects and reducing system volume while maintaining high sensitivity and flexibility.
Implementation Method 1
the detector is temporarily made insensitive to the transmitter energy and any charges created and stranded on the detector pixel by the transmitter pulse can be rapidly dissipated
Data Source
AI summary
A transceiver system allows for simultaneous operation of transmit and receive modes, even in shared path configurations, by temporarily making the receiver insensitive to transmitter energy and by modifying standard readout technology to rapidly dissipate any transmitter energy deposited onto the receiver's detector elements. The entirely electronic technique alerts the receiver to the imminent emission of each transmitter pulse. This alert opens a gate voltage switch in the readout and prevents energy that is present on the detector from being passed to the readout integrator. As soon as the transmitter pulse has passed and any charges it generated on the detector have been dissipated, the switch is automatically closed and the receiver is again fully active. Since this on/off switching happens automatically and rapidly it can operate independently from, and have very little impact on the receiver. Furthermore, it levies absolutely no limitations whatsoever on the operation of the transmitter.