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A millimeter wave radar target simulation system and method. The system includes a down-converter that converts a millimeter wave radar signal to an intermediate frequency, an electrical-to-optical modulator that modulates an optical signal based on the down-converted signal, an optical-to-electrica

A millimeter wave radar target simulation system and method. The system includes a down-converter that converts a millimeter wave radar signal to an intermediate frequency, an electrical-to-optical modulator that modulates an optical signal based on the down-converted signal, an optical-to-electrical demodulator that demodulates an optical signal to an electrical signal, an optical delay line serving to delay a signal passing from the electrical-to-optical modulator to the optical-to-electrical demodulator, and an up-converter that converts the electrical signal from the optical-to-electrical demodulator to a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave target return. The method includes receiving a millimeter wave radar signal, down-converting the radar signal to an intermediate frequency, modulating the down-converted signal to an optical signal, delaying the optical signal, demodulating the delayed optical signal, and up-converting the demodulated signal to a signal having a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave radar target return.

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The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 1. A millimeter wave radar target simulation system comprising: a down-converter configured to receive a millimeter wave radar signal and convert the radar signal to a down-converted sign

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 1. A millimeter wave radar target simulation system comprising: a down-converter configured to receive a millimeter wave radar signal and convert the radar signal to a down-converted signal having an intermediate frequency; an electrical-to-optical modulator in signal communication with the down-converter, the electrical-to-optical modulator configured to modulate an optical signal based on the down-converted signal; an optical-to-electrical demodulator configured to demodulate the optical signal to an electrical signal having an intermediate frequency; an optical delay line in signal communication with the electrical-to-optical modulator and the optical-to-electrical demodulator, the optical delay line serving to delay a signal passing from the electrical-to-optical modulator to the optical-to-electrical demodulator; an up-converter in signal communication with the optical-to-electrical demodulator, the up-converter configured to convert the electrical signal from the optical-to-electrical demodulator to an up-converted signal having a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave radar target return; a first coupler situated between the down-converter and the electrical-to-optical modulator; and a second coupler situated between the optical-to-electrical demodulator and the up-converter, the second coupler in signal communication with the first coupler, wherein the second coupler is configured to direct a portion of the electrical output signal from the optical-to-electrical demodulator to the first coupler and also to allow the signal from the optical-to-electrical demodulator to pass through to the up-converter and wherein the first coupler is configured to allow both the down-converted signal from the down-converter and the signal from the second coupler to pass to the electrical-to-optical modulator. 2. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 1, further comprising a single oscillator for driving both the down-converter and the up-converter. 3. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 1, wherein the up-converter is a single integrated component and the down-converter is a single integrated component. 4. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 1, wherein the down-converter comprises: a multiplier and filter stage configured to multiply and filter a local oscillator signal; a driver amplifier stage configured to amplify the multiplied and filtered local oscillator signal; and a mixer configured to mix the amplified signal and the millimeter wave radar signal to produce the down-converted signal at the intermediate frequency. 5. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 4, wherein the multiplier and filter stage comprises: a first doubling multiplier configured to receive and multiply by 2 the local oscillator signal to generate a 2X signal; a second doubling multiplier configured to receive the 2X output of the first doubling multiplier and multiply it by 2 to generate a 4X signal; a filter configured to receive and filter the 4X output of the second doubling multiplier to generate a filtered 4X signal; and a third doubling multiplier configured to receive the filtered 4X signal from the filter and multiply it by 2 to generate an 8X signal. 6. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 1, wherein the up-converter comprises: a multiplier and filter stage configured to multiply and filter a local oscillator signal; a driver amplifier stage configured to amplify the multiplied and filtered local oscillator signal; and a mixer configured to mix the amplified signal and a signal having an intermediate frequency to produce the up-converted signal having a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave radar target return. 7. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 6, wherein the multiplier and filter stage comprises: a first doubling multiplier configured to receive and multiply by 2 the local oscillator signal to generate a 2X signal; a second doubling multiplier configured to receive the 2X output of the first doubling multiplier and multiply it by 2 to generate a 4X signal; a filter configured to receive and filter the 4X output of the second doubling multiplier to generate a filtered 4X signal; and a third doubling multiplier configured to receive the filtered 4X signal from the filter and multiply it by 2 to generate an 8X signal. 8. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 1, further comprising an attenuator situated between the first coupler and the second coupler. 9. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 8, wherein the attenuator is a variable attenuator. 10. The millimeter wave radar target simulation system of claim 1, wherein the up-converter is configured to convert the electrical signal from the optical-to-electrical demodulator to a signal that simulates a plurality of radar target returns at a plurality of distances, wherein the distances are based on at least a length of the optical delay line and a number of times a signal circulates through the first coupler, the electrical-to-optical modulator, the optical delay line, the optical-to-electrical demodulator, and the second coupler before entering the up-converter. 11. A millimeter wave radar target simulation method comprising: receiving a millimeter wave radar signal; down-converting the received millimeter wave radar signal to a down-converted signal having an intermediate frequency; combining the down-converted signal with an additional signal to produce a combined signal; modulating the combined signal to an optical signal; delaying the optical signal; demodulating the delayed optical signal; splitting the demodulated signal into a first signal path and a second signal path; and up-converting the demodulated signal to an up-converted signal having a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave radar target return, wherein the first signal path includes the additional signal that is combined with the down-converted signal and wherein the second signal path is the demodulated signal that is up-converted to a signal having a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave target return. 12. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 11, wherein down-converting and up-converting are performed using a single local oscillator. 13. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 11, wherein down-converting is performed using a single integrated component and wherein up-converting is performed using a single integrated component. 14. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 11, wherein down-converting comprises: multiplying and filtering a local oscillator signal to generate a multiplied and filtered local oscillator signal; amplifying the multiplied and filtered local oscillator signal to generate an amplified signal; and mixing the amplified signal and a millimeter wave radar signal to generate the down-converted signal at the intermediate frequency. 15. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 14, wherein multiplying and filtering comprises: multiplying the local oscillator signal by 2 to generate a 2X signal; multiplying the 2X signal by 2 to generate a 4X signal; filtering the 4X signal to generate a filtered 4X signal; and multiplying the filtered 4X signal to generate an 8X signal. 16. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 11, wherein up-converting comprises: multiplying and filtering a local oscillator signal to generate a multiplied and filtered local oscillator signal; amplifying the multiplied and filtered local oscillator signal to generate an amplified signal; and mixing the amplified signal and a signal having an intermediate frequency to generate the up-converted signal having a frequency that simulates a millimeter wave radar target return. 17. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 16, wherein multiplying and filtering comprises: multiplying the local oscillator signal by 2 to generate a 2X signal; multiplying the 2X signal by 2 to generate a 4X signal; filtering the 4X signal to generate a filtered 4X signal; and multiplying the filtered 4X signal to generate an 8X signal. 18. The millimeter wave radar target simulation method of claim 11, further comprising attenuating signals in the second signal path before they are combined with the down-converted signal.