Distribution Of Millimeter-wave Signals Research Articles

Low-cost analog fiber optic links for in-house distribution of millimeter-wave signals

In this article, analog fiber optic links (radio-over-fiber, RoF, links) are presented as a flexible, low-cost solution for in-house distribution of millimeter-wave (mmw) signals. Mode-locked laser diodes (MLLD) serve as inexpensive mmw sources for the downlink distribution of mmw signals across an optical fiber link. We compare the robustness of direct and external RF modulation for such MLLD-based RoF systems, whereas the error vector magnitude (EVM) of the received symbols serves as a figure of merit. On the eve of 60 GHz WLAN standardization, we experimentally investigate the transmission of narrowband WLAN (IEEE 802.11a) signals in the millimetric range at moderate data rates. We also demonstrate broadband transmission of multi-band orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) ultra-wideband (UWB) european computer manufacturers association (ECMA 368) signals in the 60 GHz band for data rates of up to 480 Mbps.

Highly Stable Millimeter-Wave Signal Distribution With an Optical Round-Trip Phase Stabilizer

Highly stable millimeter-wave signal distribution technique is required for a recent radio interferometry. In the photonic local system, two coherent optical signals are transmitted and converted into a millimeter-wave signal by a photomixer in the antenna. During the signal transmission through the fiber cable, the cable length delay fluctuation is caused together with polarization mode dispersion, which will impact the performance of coherent signal distribution. In this paper, we present the test results of a prototype roundtrip phase stabilizer.

Fiber-Optic Broadband Signal Distribution Link Based on a Millimeter-Wave Self-Heterodyne Transmission/Optical Remote Heterodyne Detection Technique

A fiber-optic broadband signal distribution link based on a millimeter-wave self-heterodyne transmission/optical remote heterodyne detection technique was developed. To avoid having to use expensive optical and millimeter-wave devices to construct a frequency-stable fiber-optic millimeter-signal transmission system, a millimeter-wave self-heterodyne transmission technique was used, in which transmitted signals were generated by an optical remote heterodyne detection scheme. Theoretical discussion and experiments demonstrated that it is possible to construct an inexpensive millimeter-wave signal distribution link without the complexity or difficulties of a conventional link structure because applying the principle of the millimeter-wave self-heterodyne transmission technique enables the use of an unstable millimeter-wave carrier generated by heterodyning of two independently operating lasers. It was experimentally demonstrated that the proposed fiber-optic millimeter-wave link could successfully achieve bit-error-free transmission of a 156-Mh/s QPSK-formatted signal over a 10-km fiber link and a 5-m pseudo-air link.