Non-Standalone 5G NR FiWi System Based on a Photonic Integrated Multi-Wavelength Transmitter

This letter presents a non-standalone 5G new radio (NR) multiband fiber-wireless (FiWi) system implemented using an integrated multi-wavelength transmitter with direct modulation. In this system, three 4G/5G RF signals are simultaneously transported over a 12.5-km long radio over fiber (RoF) link, before being amplified and radiated: a 20-MHz 5G NR signal at 788 MHz; five 20-MHz LTE subcarriers at 2.6 GHz; a 100-MHz 5G NR signal at 3.5 GHz. Wireless transmissions through a 10-m long indoor picocell-like link and a 115-m long realistic outdoor wireless link are demonstrated. All 4G and 5G received signals comply with the 3GPP Release 15 requirements, in terms of EVM
_RMS
, except for 16 QAM at 3.5 GHz on the 115-m link. Experimental results demonstrate a total throughput of 1.36 Gbit/s and 230 Mbit/s on the 10-m and 115-m scenarios, respectively.