Fiber-based broadband wireless access employing optical frequency multiplication

Employing optical frequency multiplication, we demonstrate experimentally the simultaneous delivery of different 64QAM radio signals at 5.8 and 17.7 GHz after 4.4 km of multimode fiber in a single radio-over-fiber link. We also propose a flexible mechanism for the dynamic radio link adaptation, and the simultaneous transmission of an in-band control channel with the wireless data channels for power control purposes at the antenna site is demonstrated experimentally.

I. Introduction

In the last few years, broadband access has experienced an explosive boom with the demand for higher data rates to accommodate new services growing rapidly ever since. On the one side, we have witnessed a massive penetration of x-DSL and cable internet access in business and household environments. Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments are nowadays also becoming very popular as a future-proof infrastructure to provide high speed and triple play support, comprising both switched Ethernet-based and passive optical network (PON)-based architectures [1]. On the other side, wireless LAN systems like IEEE 802.11a/b/g have made broadband wireless access a reality, with the proliferation of cheap and easy-to-deploy access points in buildings, airports, shopping malls, and households. Emerging broadband fixed wireless access systems like IEEE 802.16 aim to enhance these broadband capabilities with innovative approaches in the sub-11 GHz band and in the millimeter wave region [2].