Simplification of millimeter-wave radio-over-fiber system employing heterodyning of uncorrelated optical carriers and self-homodyning of RF signal at the receiver

Opt Express. 2012 Feb 27;20(5):5707-24. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.005707.

Abstract

A simplified millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radio-over-fiber (RoF) system employing a combination of optical heterodyning in signal generation and radio frequency (RF) self-homodyning in data recovery process is proposed and demonstrated. Three variants of the system are considered in which two independent uncorrelated lasers with a frequency offset equal to the desired mm-wave carrier frequency are used to generate the transmitted signal. Uncorrelated phase noise in the resulting mm-wave signal after photodetection was overcome by using RF self-homodyning in the data recovery process. Theoretical analyses followed by experimental results and simulated characterizations confirm the system's performance. A key advantage of the system is that it avoids the need for high-speed electro-optic and electronic devices operating at the RF carrier frequency at both the central station and base stations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Microwaves
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Optical Fibers*
  • Radio Waves
  • Telecommunications / instrumentation*
  • Transducers*