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MALIBU, Calif., May 19, 2010—HRL Laboratories, LLC, received a Phase I contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop photonic analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) technologies. This award is part of the Remoted Analog-to-Digital Converter with De-Serialization and Reconstruction, or RADER program. The RADER program was established by DARPA to explore ADC technologies that address the high-resolution digitization of wideband analog signals.
Despite significant military need, progress in the high-resolution ADC of wideband signals has been complex and difficult. RADER will explore the direct ADC of wideband signals, which should eliminate much of the complexity and performance losses seen in current systems. To accomplish this, HRL will employ an optical frontend rather than all-electrical techniques to directly digitize the signal.
"Our proposed photonic frontend will meet RADER goals and also offer an avenue to capitalize on future advancements of electronic analog-to-digital converters," said Dr. Willie Ng, the HRL RADER program lead. "In addition, our architecture will also remote the sensors picking up the analog signal from the electronic quantizers /processors that can now operate in a much more benign environment."
In an 18-month Phase I effort, HRL will lead a team of subcontractors to demonstrate the approach, which can be expanded in additional proposed phase options to meet DARPA’s final program goals.###
HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, California (www.hrl.com) is a corporate research-and-development laboratory owned by The Boeing Company and General Motors specializing in research into sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. HRL provides custom research and development and performs additional R&D contract services for its LLC member companies, the U.S. government, and other commercial companies.