Implementation of a multiband 5G NR fiber-wireless system using analog radio over fiber technology

Abstract

This work reports the implementation of a multiband 5G new radio (NR) fiber-wireless (FiWi) system, using analog radio over fiber (A-RoF) technology. Our approach employs a 12.5-km optical fronthaul (FH) for transporting fifth-generation of mobile network (5G) signals up to a remote antenna unit, from which 10-m reach wireless transmissions are performed aiming indoor and outdoor enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) applications. The aforementioned 5G signals refer to a 5G NR standard at 26 GHz with 400-MHz bandwidth and DSP-based flexible-waveform signal at 3.5 GHz from our transceiver, which can be set as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), filtered-OFDM (F-OFDM) or generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM). Additionally, an investigation on the coexistence between 5G NR and Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) standards in FiWi systems using the 700 MHz band, aimed for long-range applications, is reported. Experimental results demonstrate 1.65 Gbit/s total wireless throughput in accordance with the 3GPP Release 15 root mean square error vector magnitude (EVMRMS) digital performance requirements.