Integration system of photon-assisted W-band millimeter wave wireless communication and free space optical communication based on OFDM signal transmission

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel multi-access orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal transmission system for free space optical communication and photon-assisted W-band millimeter-wave (mm-wave) communication. This new structure can combine the advantages of the free space optical communication and the W-band mm-wave wireless communication. Besides, the OFDM signal with high spectral efficiency and anti-interference capability can improve the data transmission rate and flexibility. Furthermore, it can adapt to the requirements of different communication scenarios. Utilizing the intra-symbol frequency-domain averaging (ISFA) technique and the discrete Fourier transform-spread (DFT-Spread) technique, 1Gbaud 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) OFDM signal is transmitted successfully with the distance of 100 m for single-mode fiber (SMF), 100 m for FSO link and 4 m for wireless. The BER is under the soft-decision Forward Error Correction (SD-FEC) threshold of 2 × 10−2. To our knowledge, this is the first time to realize the transmission of OFDM signal in the integration system of free space optical communication and photon-assisted W-band mm-wave communication.