Implementing a novel highly scalable adaptive photonic beamformer using "blind" guided accelerated random search

A novel highly scalable adaptive photonic beamformer is proposed and experimentally verified. A single-mode-to-multimode combiner allows our system to recycle the same set of wavelengths for each antenna in the array. A 'blind' search algorithm called the guided accelerated random search (GARS) algorithm is shown. A maximum cancellation of ∼37 dB is achieved within 50 iterations, while the presence of a signal of interest (SOI) is maintained. Cancellation across the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz bands are shown to prove the broadband nature of the optical beamformer.