US Patent 7929864 Optical beamforming transmitter

The present invention provides an optical beamforming RF transmitter. In one embodiment, the optical beamforming RF transmitter includes an optical WDM splitter having an input and a plurality of outputs. The optical beamforming RF transmitter also includes an array of antennas, where each antenna has an optical input configured to drive the corresponding antenna, and an array of optical modulators, such that each modulator has an output connected to a corresponding one of the antennas and an input connected to one of the outputs of the optical WDM splitter. The optical beamforming RF transmitter further includes a mode-locked laser having an output optically coupled to the input of the optical WDM splitter.