Broadband wireless systems and networks: an enabling role for radio–over–fibre

Abstract

There has been a remarkable take up of wireless and mobile communications in recent years, such that in a number of countries the number of mobile phones now exceeds the number of xed network connections. Alongside this, we are seeing dramatic growth in data on the network compared with voice: the so-called`data wave'. While much mobile network tra¯c is currently voice there is increasing use of the available data facilities with these now being enhanced (e.g. via evolution of the global system for mobile communications and subsequently the introduction of`third-generation' systems such as the universal mobile telecommunications system). Accordingly, there is considerable interest and activity in the research community concerning possible technologies exploiting yet higher frequencies where truly broadband future wireless networks may be realized. This paper will review some of the technology options currently available or under examination for millimetre-wave broadband wireless networks and will go on to consider in some detail a speci c example of` xed-wireless' technology synergies exploiting radio-over-bre techniques to achieve ®exible, recongurable broadband wireless networks.

Wavelength shift tolerance of a heterodyne detection scheme for cost-efficient DWDM-PON / 60 GHz wireless integration

“…Besides the bandwidth limitations, the use of electrical lossy cables to drive the antennas has a significant impact on the energy consumption of the base station. Therefore, radio-over-fiber (RoF) technology is the best candidate to support these distributed antenna systems (DAS) [1]. The widely deployed fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure provides a cost-effective solution to provide backhaul to wireless base stations sharing the same optical infrastructure.…”

Convergence of optical and millimeter-wave broadband wireless access networks

“…This requirement has led to the development of system architectures where functions such as signal/routing/processing, handover and frequency allocation are carried out at the central office (CO). The best solution for connecting the CO with BSs in such radio network is via an optical fiber network, now known as radio over fiber (RoF) network [3]. By exploiting high bandwidth wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks, an integrated efficient fiber radio backbone network can be realized, where mm-wave carriers are modulated with data and placed on a particular wavelength channel and delivered to a specific BS.…”

Simulation of mm-wave over fiber systems employing up-conversion using external modulators

“…This requirement has led to the development of system architectures where functions such as signal/routing/processing, handover and frequency allocation are carried out at the central office (CO). The best solution for linking the central station (CS) with BSs in such radio network is via an optical fiber network, commonly dominated radio over fiber (RoF) network [1]. By exploiting high-bandwidth wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks, an integrated fiber radio backbone network could be developed to interconnect antenna base station with the CO.…”