A photonic beamformer system designed for nextgeneration 5G new radio (5G NR) operating in the millimeterwave band is proposed and demonstrated experimentally, including its performance characterization. The photonic beamforming device is based on optical ring resonators (ORRs) implemented on Si3N4 and assisted with multi-core fiber (MCF) to feed the different antenna elements (AEs). Fast-switching configuration of the ORRs is performed changing the operating wavelength, as tuning the wavelength modifies the coupling coefficient of the rings and, consequently, the induced time delay. Multi-beam operation is evaluated at 17.6 GHz and 26 GHz radio keeping the ORRs' configuration. The beamforming performance is evaluated using single-carrier signals with up to 128QAM modulation over up to 4.2 GHz electrical bandwidth. The experimental beamforming system with 2 AEs provides up to 21 Gbps per user, while the beamforming system with 4 AEs provides up to 16.8 Gbps per user. Wireless transmission confirms that changing the wavelength from 1545.200 to 1545.195 nm modifies the beam steering from 11.3˚ to 23˚ with 26 GHz signals (5G NR pioneer band in Europe).
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