Microwave photonics (MWPs) is an emerging interdisciplinary field, where photonics technologies are adopted to facilitate the generation, transmission, detection, and processing of signals at radio-wave, microwave, and millimeter-wave frequencies. Recently, the integrated photonic technology has demonstrated its capability to miniaturize photonic circuits on a single chip, which paves the way for next-generation integrated MWP signal processing systems having reduced size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) specifications. In particular, by means of incorporating complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) electronic, optical, and optoelectronic components on a single integrated chip, silicon photonic circuits have brought new architectures and functionalities for MWP signal processing. This accelerates the evolution of MWPs from a single-use microwave signal processor toward a multitasking and cascadable MWP system, which is readily adaptable for a wide variety of uses and applications. In this review article, we provide an overview of the fundamental principle of the MWP signal processing topology. Developments in the microwave filtering technologies are reviewed with a focus on the integrated microwave filtering enhanced by optical phase equalization. We also review the recent progress and give an outlook for the future trend in MWP signal topologies, exploring the realization of multitasking and cascadable microwave signal processing systems based on silicon photonics.

微波光子学（MWPs）是一个新兴的跨学科领域，在该领域中采用了光子学技术来促进在无线电波，微波和毫米波频率上信号的生成，传输，检测和处理。近来，集成光子技术已展示出使其在单个芯片上小型化的能力，这为尺寸，重量和功耗（SWaP）规格减小的下一代集成MWP信号处理系统铺平了道路。特别地，借助于在单个集成芯片上结合互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）电子，光学和光电组件，硅光子电路为MWP信号处理带来了新的架构和功能。这加速了MWP从一次性微波信号处理器向多任务和可级联MWP系统的演进，该系统很容易适应多种用途和应用。在这篇综述文章中，我们概述了MWP信号处理拓扑的基本原理。回顾了微波滤波技术的发展，重点是通过光学相位均衡增强的集成微波滤波。我们还回顾了MWP信号拓扑结构的最新进展并展望了未来的趋势，探索了基于硅光子学的多任务和可级联微波信号处理系统的实现。在这篇综述文章中，我们概述了MWP信号处理拓扑的基本原理。回顾了微波滤波技术的发展，重点是通过光学相位均衡增强的集成微波滤波。我们还回顾了MWP信号拓扑结构的最新进展并展望了未来的趋势，探索了基于硅光子学的多任务和可级联微波信号处理系统的实现。在这篇综述文章中，我们概述了MWP信号处理拓扑的基本原理。回顾了微波滤波技术的发展，重点是通过光学相位均衡增强的集成微波滤波。我们还回顾了MWP信号拓扑的最新进展并展望了未来的趋势，探索了基于硅光子学的多任务和可级联微波信号处理系统的实现。