OEwaves Inc. has been awarded a contract by DARPA to develop a multi-function and reduced SWAP optical SIGINT receiver prototype that will significantly improve system configurability and platform compatibility for future SIGINT and EW systems. OEwaves will develop the photonic receiver front-end, and in collaboration with ITT, demonstrate the receiver system that will meet the stringent performance and SWAP requirements in the DARPA contract.

OEwaves' photonic receiver front-end technology simplifies the architecture of conventional microwave receiver front-ends by addressing the critical need to substantially reduce its size and power requirements. The photonic receiver is based on the patented technology of ultra-high quality (Q) factor crystalline whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical resonators.

"This is an exciting opportunity to apply our unique microwave photonics technology and realize a high performance receiver with a fraction of the size and power requirements of conventional technology," said Lute Maleki, president and CEO of OEwaves Inc. "Such a receiver can also significantly expand the capability of future sensor suites for UAVs and other small platforms."

The impact of such a low SWAP and highly reconfigurable optical SIGINT receiver includes, but is not limited to: reduced system EMI susceptibility, compact payloads for UAV applications, system transitioning capability between radar and EW operations, and various jammer applications and operational benefits.