ERA is engaged in the design and construction of RF on fibre systems, building on its established reputation as a designer of electronic and optical components and subsystems for the communications industry.

ERA recently designed a state-of-the-art RF on fibre link to provide digital and RF communications between two mobile locations via an optical fibre over a distance of 2.5 km. The custom requirements precluded the use of conventional wireless communications and dictated the use a very low cross section interface connection with loss over the distance.

There were 6 optically multiplexed channels - 2 digital and 4 RF - with one of the RF channels being broadband and extending up to 12 GHz. External modulation was used for the RF channels with innovative techniques to maintain the optimum operating conditions in the modulator and constant gain over the RF-Optical-RF link with both time and temperature.

The project was completed to an aggressive timescale and the system worked in accordance with theoretical predictions for the RF and optical components used.