Linearization techniques for electro-optical modulation in analog radio over fiber

Abstract

Analog Radio-over-Fiber (a-RoF) has gained increasing attention in the context of next-generation optical networks due to its spectral efficiency and lower deployment cost. However, electro-optical conversion of the information signal is delicate since the non-linear characteristic of the electro-optical modulator's transfer function causes inter-channel interference and poses a severe limitation to achievable error-free transmission. Here, we perform an experimental comparison of two different linearization schemes for electro-optical conversion to be employed in a-RoF. Both techniques can lower third order intermodulation products by 12 dB, a result that enhances the error-free range of a-RoF transmission by a factor of six.