Microwave photonic techniques in phase-noise measurements of microwave sources : a review of fiber-optic delay-line methods

Lavrič, Andrej (author), Vidmar, Matjaž (author), Batagelj, Boštjan (author)

Microwave photonics has recently come to the forefront as a valuable approach to generating, processing, and measuring signals in high-performance domains such as communication, radar, and timing systems. Recent studies have introduced a range of photonics-based phase-noise analyzers (PNAs) that utilize a variety of architectures, including phase detection, frequency discrimination, and hybrid mechanisms that combine optical with electronic processing. This review focuses on microwave photonic techniques for phase-noise measurement based on the fiber-optic delay-line method, by exploring their fundamental principles, system design frameworks, and performance indicators. The fiber-optic delayline method is examined as the core architecture, due to the exceptionally low loss and wide bandwidth of the optical fiber, which enable long delays and high measurement sensitivity. Through the integration of insights garnered from recent publications, our objective is to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and limitations associated with fiber-optic delay-line-based PNAs and to pinpoint new and promising areas for advancing research in the field of oscillator metrology.

• Language: English
• Keywords: microwave photonics, phase-noise measurement, optical fiber, delay-line method, photonic processing, sensitivity improvement
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 18 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 13, issue 1 [article no.] 60
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-178021
• UDC: 621.39
• ISSN on article: 2304-6732
• DOI: 10.3390/photonics13010060
• COBISS.SI-ID: 264941315
• Publication date in RUL: 16.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Photonics
• Shortened title: Photonics
• Publisher: MDPI AG
• ISSN: 2304-6732
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523331609

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: mikrovalovna fotonika, merjenje faznega šuma, optično vlakno, postopek s kasnilnim vodom, fotonska obdelava, izboljšanje občutljivost