Low-complexity and frequency-scalable analog real-time FDM receiver based on a dispersive delay structure

A real-time analog frequency division multiplexing (FDM) receiver is proposed based on a dispersive delay structure (DDS). The DDS used here is a C-section all-pass network with a linear group delay response. It demultiplexes the FDM signal in the time domain by mapping each of its frequency components to its corresponding group delay. Compared to conventional FDM receivers, which utilize many analog and digital components for demultiplexing, making the receiver architecture complex, the proposed FDM receiver employs a single DDS in a simpler architecture. Moreover, the digital circuits employed in the conventional FDM receivers suffer from certain limitations at high frequencies, such as low speed, high power consumption and cost. The proposed DDS-based FDM receiver is purely analog and can be frequency-scaled.