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Abstract

A probe includes a main electro-optical modulator (130), first (150) and second (160) optical couplers each having a respective input (152, 162), through (154, 164) and isolated (156, 166) port, and reference (170) and test (174) optical detectors. Reference light and test light, respectively, are received at the inputs (152, 162) of the optical couplers (150, 160). Main electro-optical modulator 130 includes an RF through-line (136) between input (132) and output (134) RF connectors, and a modulator optical path (138) alongside the RF through-line. The first and second optical couplers couple the reference and test light to opposite ends of the modulator optical path. The reference and test optical detectors are coupled to the second and first isolated ports (166, 156), respectively, to generate reference and test IF signals respectively representing forward and reverse RF signal propagation along the RF through-line. The received reference and test light is modulated at an LO frequency, or an auxiliary electro-optical modulator (180) is provided to modulate unmodulated received light.

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