Radio Frequency Self-interference Cancellation Research Articles

A novel self‐interference cancellation architecture based on asymmetrical power divider and its closed‐loop control

AbstractThe asymmetric radio frequency (RF) self‐interference cancellation (SIC) architecture is studied, and the closed‐loop control of RF SIC based on software radio is realized. This system uses a circulator to isolate the receiving and transmitting chains, and its RF reconstruction chain is composed of a 4‐tap filter with fixed delay and tunable attenuation for each tap. The optimization of tap filter and asymmetric power divider's power allocation ratio is discussed. In the experiment, sensing, calibration, optimization algorithms and hardware control programs were proposed. A closed‐loop gradient descent algorithm for tuning the variable attenuator is implemented on the GNU Radio. From 910 MHz to 930 MHz, the isolation between the receiving and transmitting ports increases 40 dB, achieving an isolation of more than 65 dB and the transmission energy efficiency increases by 60%.

Full-duplex multi-band 5G/6G coexistence mobile fronthaul network based on RoF with RF self-interference cancellation

A bidirectional multi-band mobile fronthaul network based on the radio over fiber technology is proposed, which allows three different radio frequency (RF) bands at 3.5 GHz, 26 GHz, and 60 GHz full-duplex transmission, and 2.1 GHz RF band transmission as supplementary uplink, aiming for fifth-generation (5G)/sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication coexistence. The proposed scheme uses a dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator and dual-polarization binary phase-shift keying modulator to alleviate the interference between multiple RF bands. The transmission performance of the proposed system is evaluated by the simulation. The error vector magnitude of the system conforms to the 3GPP specification when the received optical powers of downlink and uplink are above −2.2 and −4.6 dBm, respectively. The Y-polarized optical carrier in the downlink is reused as the carrier of the uplink signals. Besides, a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator is used to realize RF self-interference cancellation at 60 GHz RF band in the uplink of the in-band full-duplex transmission. The cancellation depth of 27.08 dB is achieved by the proof-of-concept simulation.

Frequency-Domain RF Self-Interference Cancellation for In-Band Full-Duplex Communications

Wireless backhaul has recently gained a significant amount of interest as a cost-effective solution in comparison with conventional backhaul technologies with dedicated microwave links or fiber optics. Self-interference cancellation (SIC) is an enabling technology that allows wireless backhaul to operate in the more spectrum-efficient in-band full-duplex (IBFD) operation mode instead of the out-of-band mode. Compared to Wi-Fi IBFD transceivers, wireless in-band backhaul systems face some unique challenges, such as significantly higher transmission power and much larger propagation delay spread for the self-interference signal, especially in the low-frequency bands under 1 GHz, which often prevent accurate SIC performance. The SIC is often implemented with an interference-cancelling filter, where the filter weights are essentially the channel estimates of the self-interference signals. In this paper, a frequency-domain Radio Frequency (RF) SIC (RF-SIC) framework with a novel filter weight optimization algorithm is proposed to tackle the challenges of wireless in-band backhaul. The proposed RF-SIC does not require a dedicated training phase which needs to stop the transmission of the backhaul signal. Moreover, it has the capability of tracking the self-interference channel variation since the filter weights are updated in a block-by-block fashion.

Photonic-Assisted Reconfigurable LO Harmonic Downconverter With RF Self-Interference Cancellation and Image-Rejection

A photonic-assisted reconfigurable LO harmonic downconverter with simultaneous image-rejection and RF self-interference cancellation (SIC) for in-band full-duplex communication is proposed and experimentally investigated based on a dual-polarization dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (DP-DPMZM). The received signal from the antenna, which includes the radio frequency (RF) signal, image signal (IM) and self-interference (SI) signal, is input into one sub-MZM of the X-DPMZM. The self-reference (SR) signal is input into the other. The Y-DPMZM is used to load the LO signal and is properly biased to obtain the high-order sideband of the LO signal, which was then set as the LO signal of the reconfigurable harmonic frequency downconverter. By matching the power and delay of the SR signal and changing the main bias of the X-DPMZM, the SI signal can be eliminated directly in optical domain. With power splitting after the output of the DP-DPMZM, the quadrature IF signals can be obtained by a photonics-based continuously adjustable phase shifter. Then, photonics image-rejection down-conversion based on phase cancellation is realized after a low-frequency electrical 90° hybrid coupler (HC) combines the quadrature IF signals. Both theoretical and experimental investigations are performed. The results show that the SIC has a cancellation depth more than 32 dB for the 10-MHz bandwidth and greater than 19 dB for the 500-MHz bandwidth, the image-rejection has an image-rejection ratio larger than 31 dB for 10-MHz bandwidth and larger than 22 dB for the 100-MHz bandwidth, both in 2 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">nd</sup> - and 3 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">rd</sup> -order harmonic down-conversion mode. Experiments are also carried out on the reconfigurable LO harmonic downconverter with simultaneous SIC and image-rejection. A 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) -modulated RF signal is successfully down-converted to a 1-GHz intermediate frequency (IF) signal with self-interference and image frequency cancelled. It is verified that the RF signal can be well recovered from SI and IM signals by the proposed system.

Photonics-based radio frequency self-interference cancellation for radio-over-fiber systems

A photonics-based radio frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation approach for radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems is proposed and demonstrated. An intermediate frequency (IF) signal and a local oscillator (LO) signal are separately modulated to a pair of optical carriers with orthogonal polarization states in the central station. The generated optically carried RF signal is then transmitted to remote base stations over fibers. After performing photodetection at the two outputs of the polarization beam splitter (PBS), a pair of upconverted RF signals with inverse phases are generated. One is used as the transmitted signal, while the other is used as the reference signal for the self-interference cancellation. In this way, the phase inversion between them is realized in the optical domain. In addition, the adjustments with the time delay and the amplitude of the reference signal are both achieved in the optical domain, guaranteeing the self-interference cancellation in a wide bandwidth. Meanwhile, the independent optical system for self-interference cancellation is avoided, simplifying the complex hardware requirements with the base stations. The cancellation depths of 33, 30, and 22 dB over 0.5-, 1-, and 3-GHz bandwidths are experimentally achieved, respectively. The ranging and imaging functions of a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar system using the established self-interference cancellation structure are experimentally verified.

Integrated photonics approach to radio-frequency self-interference cancellation

An integrated photonics based scheme for radio-frequency self-interference cancellation is proposed and demonstrated. It is achieved using a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator that eliminates the interference signal in the optical domain. The output of the modulator is a carrier suppressed double-sideband waveform that contains only the signal of interest. Finally, the signal of interest is recovered by combining the modulator output with a local optical carrier and detecting it at a high-speed photodetector. We present a detailed theoretical analysis and derive the optimal condition for self-interference cancellation for small modulation indices. The modulators were designed and fabricated on IMEC’s Silicon-on-Insulator iSiPP50G platform. Using this technique, we experimentally obtain a cancellation depth of 30 dB and a signal to interference ratio of 25 dB for frequencies up to 20 GHz, limited only by the equipment used. This is the first demonstration of self-interference cancellation on a silicon photonics platform and a further expansion of the functionalities offered by integrated microwave photonics.

A Two-Stage Wideband RF Cancellation of Coupled Transmit Signal for Bi-Static Simultaneous Transmit and Receive System

Wireless technology is growing at a fast rate to accommodate the expanding user demands. Currently, the radio frequency (RF) spectrum is overcrowded. Hence, it is more susceptible to signal fratricide and interference. To enhance spectrum access, in-band full duplex systems are implemented to achieve simultaneous transmission and reception (STAR) and double the spectral efficiency. However, STAR systems require suppression of the high power transmit signals that can leak into the receiver chain. This type of self-interference (SI) can significantly reduce the receiver.s dynamic range and often leads to its desensitization. Therefore, successful STAR implementation requires considerable isolation between the transmitter and receiver to reduce the SI signal. To do so, RF self-interference cancellation (RFSIC) stages are considered. In this paper, we present a two-stage SIC system that includes transmit and receive antennas isolation and RFSIC filter stages. Notably, the isolation between the transmit and receive antennas is based on a novel symmetric suppression technique. The RFSIC filter is based on a hybrid finite impulse response (FIR) filter and resonator architecture. Adding a resonator to the FIR filter provides improved matching to approximate and suppress the direct SI coupling. Our design achieves <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula> 52 dB isolation on average across a 500 MHz bandwidth ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">viz.</i> 1-1.5 GHz) in simulation. Simulation results show a minimum cancellation of 41 dB and a maximum cancellation of 65 dB. A prototype was fabricated and tested, showing an average of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula> 44 dB cancellation which is in good agreement with our simulation.

RF Self-Interference Cancellation and Frequency Downconversion With Immunity to Power Fading Based on Optoelectronic Oscillation

We report a photonic approach to achieve simultaneous radio frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation (SIC) and frequency downconversion with immunity to power fading based on an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) for an in-band full-duplex (IBFD) radio-over-fiber (ROF) system. A dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator (DDMZM) in a polarization-division multiplexing Mach–Zehnder modulator (PDM-MZM) is used to cancel the RF self-interference (SI) signal and generate optical carrier-suppressed double sidebands (CS-DSBs) of the signal of interest (SOI). Meanwhile, another DDMZM in the PDM-MZM is used to construct an OEO loop to generate optical CS-DSBs of the local oscillation (LO) signal. After detection at a photodetector (PD), a frequency downconverted signal is recovered with the RF self-interference cancellation (SIC). The proposed scheme can directly cancel the RF SI signal in the optical domain, meaning that it can overcome the limitation of SIC in the electrical domain. With the phase compensation introduced by a polarization controller, the desired signal is unaffected by the power fading over fiber transmission, which is significant for IBFD ROF systems. In addition, instead of an external microwave source, an OEO loop is used to generate an LO signal with a high spectral purity, which is very promising for integrated microwave photonics systems.

Photonics-Based Adaptive RF Self-Interference Cancellation and Frequency Downconversion

A photonics-based approach for simultaneous adaptive radio-frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation and frequency downconversion is proposed and demonstrated. By introducing photonic polarization-multiplexing, the reference signal and the self-interference signal are separated in the optical domain. Thus, the phase shift, the precise amplitude and the time delay adjustments can be achieved with the reference signal by using optical methods which are program controllable. An intelligent algorithm particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is applied to optimize these parameters for adaptive operation. Meanwhile, the local oscillator (LO) signal is introduced to the two orthogonal polarization states to perform frequency downconversion. Therefore, simultaneous adaptive self-interference cancellation and downconversion are realized. A theoretical model is established for analyses. A proof-of-concept experiment is taken. The simultaneous adaptive self-interference cancellation and downconversion are achieved. The X-band RF signals are downconverted, and the self-interference cancellation depth of 31 dB over a 500-MHz bandwidth and 28 dB over a 1-GHz bandwidth are obtained. The RF signals in the Ku-band are downconverted, with the self-interference cancellation of 28 dB over a 500-MHz bandwidth and 26 dB over a 1-GHz bandwidth. A 16-QAM signal with a 10-Msym/s symbol rate is recovered from the self-interference signals with 500-MHz and 1-GHz bandwidths.

Photonic-Assisted RF Self-Interference Cancellation Based on Optical Spectrum Processing

In band full-duplex (IBFD) wireless systems increase the RF spectrum efficiency and have become one of the key technologies in the future wireless communication systems. But it is only possible if the radio-frequency (RF) self-interference (SI) generated by the transmitter is sufficiently mitigated. SI cancellation becomes more difficult while the bandwidth and frequency increases. Herein, a novel approach to photonic-assisted RF SI cancellation based on optical processing is proposed for IBFD wireless systems. In this scheme, reference signal and the received signal are converted to optical signals by two Mach-Zehnder modulators. The phase and amplitude between reference and received signal are matched by optical spectrum processing, and the delay time is aligned by finely tuning the tunable optical delay line (TODL). The broadband interference signal within the received signal is removed in the optical domain. Experimental results show more than 30 dB cancellation depth in 10 GHz bandwidth. Besides, IBFD transmission performance based on 16-QAM for different symbol rates and different signal-to–interference ratios (SIR) are also demonstrated, as well as 92.6 dB•Hz <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2/3</sup> spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is obtained.

Photonic-enabled radio-frequency self-interference cancellation incorporated into an in-band full-duplex radio-over-fiber system

A photonic approach for radio-frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation (SIC) incorporated in an in-band full-duplex radio-over-fiber system is proposed. A dual-polarization binary phase-shift keying modulator is used for dual-polarization multiplexing at the central office (CO). A local oscillator signal and an intermediate-frequency signal carrying the downlink data are single-sideband modulated on the two polarization directions of the modulator, respectively. The optical signal is then transmitted to the remote unit, where the optical signals in the two polarization directions are split into two parts. One part is detected to generate the up-converted downlink RF signal, and the other part is re-modulated by the uplink RF signal and the self-interference, which is then transmitted back to the CO for the signal down-conversion and SIC via the optical domain signal adjustment and balanced detection. The functions of SIC, frequency up-conversion, down-conversion, and fiber transmission with dispersion immunity are all incorporated in the system. An experiment is performed. Cancellation depths of more than 39 dB for the single-tone signal and more than 20 dB for the 20-MBaud 16 quadrature amplitude modulation signal are achieved in the back-to-back case. The performance of the system does not have a significant decline when a section of 4.1-km optical fiber is incorporated.

Photonics-Assisted Ultrawideband RF Self-Interference Cancellation With Signal of Interest Recovery and Fiber Transmission

Self-interference and chromatic dispersion are two main limiting factors that influence the recovery of the signal of interest (SOI) in in-band full-duplex (IBFD) radio-over-fiber (RoF) links. An ultrawideband photonic-assisted approach to radio-frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation (SIC) with high-speed SOI recovery and fiber transmission capability is proposed. The key to achieve the above optimum performances in a compact system is the combined use of fiber dispersion induced RF time delay and optical carrier phase-shifted double sideband (CPS-DSB) modulation. A high precision and tunable time delay matching between the reference signal and the SI signal can be achieved by dispersion induced RF time delay. Meanwhile, the equal amplitude, phase reversal, and dispersion-induced SOI power fading compensation conditions are satisfied simultaneously by manipulating the optical carrier phase of the CPS-DSB signal. For 25 km fiber transmission, 30 dB cancellation depth over 2.7 GHz bandwidth, 160 Mbit/s 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) SOI recovery, and good immunity to fiber dispersion are experimentally demonstrated. In addition, the proposed scheme facilitates multipath SIC by implementing an array of tunable lasers (TLs) with a shared electro-optic modulator at the reference branch.

Simultaneous RF Self-Interference Cancellation, Local Oscillator Generation, Frequency up- and down-Conversion in an Integrated In-Band Full-Duplex 5G RF Transceiver Front-End

Wideband radio-frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation (SIC), local oscillator (LO) generation, frequency up-, and down-conversion are all crucial for an in-band full-duplex (IBFD) 5G RF transceiver front-end. In this paper, a microwave photonic approach enabled by only one optical dual-polarization IQ modulator (DP-IQMZM) is proposed to simultaneously realize wideband RF SIC, LO generation, frequency up- and down-conversion. Note that, the LO signal with high spectral purity and low phase noise is produced by a dual-loop optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) using a self-polarization stabilization structure, and the generated LO signal is applied for frequency up- and down-conversion. Besides, the optical single-sideband signal is produced at the output of this 5G RF transceiver for uplink transmission from the remote antenna unit (RAU) to the baseband unit (BBU), so the power fading induced by fiber dispersion could be completely suppressed. A proof-of-concept experiment is performed, and the LO signal with the central frequency of 10&#x00A0;GHz, the phase noise performance of &#x2212;108.97&#x00A0;dBc&#x002F;Hz at a frequency offset of 10&#x00A0;kHz is achieved. A 5 &#x00D7; 20&#x00A0;MHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) 16&#x002F;64-ary quadrature amplitude modulation-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (16&#x002F;64QAM-OFDM) signal with the central frequency of 12.6&#x00A0;GHz is down-converted to 2.6&#x00A0;GHz. Meanwhile, the cancellation ratio of 30.22&#x00A0;dB and 26.26&#x00A0;dB could be achieved when the bandwidth of the self-interference signal is 150&#x00A0;MHz and 300&#x00A0;MHz, respectively. Moreover, a 3 &#x00D7; 20&#x00A0;MHz LTE 64QAM-OFDM signal with a central frequency of 2.6&#x00A0;GHz is up-converted to 12.6&#x00A0;GHz, and the electrical signal-to-noise ratio of the generated RF signal can achieve 31.34&#x00A0;dB. The measured error vector magnitude performance shows that the generated down- and up-converted signal both meet the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) requirements for 5G systems.

Photonic-assisted radio frequency self-interference cancellation and frequency down-conversion based on polarization multiplexing modulation.

We report a photonic-assisted radio frequency self-interference cancellation (RF-SIC) and frequency down-conversion scheme based on a dual-polarization Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) by using a polarization manipulation method. In the proposed scheme, the self-interference signal is directly canceled in the optical domain by simply controlling the polarization states between the output of the DP-MZM and the polarizer. Frequency down-conversion is achieved by optoelectronic frequency mixing. In the proof-of-concept experiment, the interference cancellation of the single-frequency signal and wideband signal was conducted. The proposed RF-SIC and frequency down-conversion system has flexible tunability, simple structure, and low cost, which can find potential applications in radio-over-fiber systems.

Photonic-based analog and digital RF self-interference cancellation with high spectral efficiency.

A photonic-assisted analog and digital radio frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation (SIC) approach with high spectral efficiency is reported for base stations in in-band full-duplex radio-over-fiber systems on the basis of our previous research. One dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (DP-QPSK) modulator is used as the canceller for one base station. The two dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators of the DP-QPSK modulator are both biased as carrier-suppressed single-sideband modulators and driven by the received signal and reference signal, respectively, to achieve high spectral efficiency while implementing the SIC in the optical domain. The baseband optical signal after SIC is further transmitted to the central station, where the electrical signal is recovered, sampled, and processed to further suppress the residual self-interference in the digital domain by using the recursive least-square (RLS) algorithm. An experiment is then performed. The proposed system is demonstrated by employing two independent channels. The analog cancellation depths of the 200, 500, and 800 Mbaud QPSK-modulated self-interferences are around 24, 20, and 20 dB, respectively; the total cancellation depths are around 29, 28, and 25 dB, respectively, when the analog cancellation and the RLS algorithm digital cancellation are applied. Meanwhile, the fiber distribution has no significant influence on SIC performance.

Analog Least Mean Square Adaptive Filtering for Self-Interference Cancellation in Full Duplex Radios

In-band full duplex (IBFD) radio represents one of the key technologies for future wireless communication and radar applications. A major challenge of this technology is to mitigate the strong self-interfer-ence (SI) so that the residual SI level falls below the receiver's noise floor. Radio frequency (RF) self-inter-ference cancellation (SIC) is essential for preventing an IBFD receiver from becoming saturated by the SI. We commence with an in-depth review of the promising analog least mean square (ALMS) adaptive filtering architecture, conceived for RF SIC in the IBFD radio RF front-end. The cancellation circuits employing this architecture can be implemented purely by analog components without any involvement of more power-thirsty digital signal processing. The behaviors, performance, and implementation of the ALMS loop are presented. Finally, their applications in various IBFD radios are discussed, and future research directions are provided.

RF self-interference cancellation by using photonic technology [Invited

Radio frequency (RF) self-interference is a key issue for the application of in-band full-duplex communication in beyond fifth generation and sixth generation communications. Compared with electronic technology, photonic technology has the advantages of wide bandwidth and high tuning precision, exhibiting great potential to realize high interference cancellation depth over broad band. In this paper, a comprehensive overview of photonic enabled RF self-interference cancellation (SIC) is presented. The operation principle of photonic RF SIC is introduced, and the advances in implementing photonic RF SIC according to the realization mechanism of phase reversal are summarized. For further realistic applications, the multipath RF SIC and the integrated photonic RF SIC are also surveyed. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of photonic RF SIC technology are discussed.

Optical Self-Interference Cancellation With Frequency Down-Conversion Based on Cascade Modulator

A novel approach to simultaneous radiofrequency self-interference cancellation (SIC) and frequency down-conversion in a unified system is proposed and demonstrated experimentally based on cascade Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZM). The local oscillator signal is injected into the MZM1, whereas the received RF signal and the reference signal are fed into MZM2 and MZM3. After photoelectrical conversion by a balanced photodetector, the desired intermediate frequency signal with SIC is obtained. The cancellation depth for the single frequency SIC with frequency down-conversion is around 38 dB, and that for a wideband signal is around 19 dB. No electrical delay and attenuation are used in the proposed system, so it can potentially reach a wider frequency band and a higher cancellation depth.

Residual self‐interference suppression guided resource allocation for full‐duplex orthogonal frequency division multiple access system

In a wideband full-duplex system, the residual self-interference (SI) channel exhibits significant frequency selective fading characteristics after radio frequency SI cancellation. Resource allocation using the difference between the signal channel and the residual SI channel is a new method of suppressing residual SI and increasing system capacity. In this work, the residual SI channel and the user uplink channel are modelled as multi-path frequency selective fading channels that satisfy the Rayleigh distribution. To improve system capacity, the authors propose to allocate the spectrum resource avoiding occupation of subcarriers with high residual SI, while guaranteeing a fair subcarrier assignment (SA) and power allocation (PA). A sum rate of uplink maximisation is formulated, and an algorithmic solution is developed to effectively conduct SA and PA. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the scheme in increasing system capacity and suppressing residual SI.

Photonic-Assisted RF Self-Interference Cancellation With Improved Spectrum Efficiency and Fiber Transmission Capability

An approach to photonic-assisted carrier-suppressed single-sideband radio-frequency (RF) self-interference cancellation with improved spectrum efficiency and fiber transmission capability is proposed for in-band full-duplex radio-over-fiber systems. The key to achieve RF self-interference cancellation is to generate two single-sideband signals with one having a received signal with the RF self-interference signal and the other having only the RF self-interference signal, which is implemented by using a dual-polarization binary phase-shift keying (DP-BPSK) modulator. By controlling the arrival time and power of the electrical signals applied to the DP-BPSK modulator, the RF self-interference can be fully cancelled, and only a carrier-suppressed single-sideband signal with modulation is obtained. In addition to self-interference cancellation, the received signal can be directly converted to an optical baseband signal, so that the spectrum efficiency is increased. An experiment is performed. The results show that a cancellation depth of around 40 dB for a single-frequency self-interference and around 22 dB for a 100-Mbaud QPSK modulated wideband self-interference is achieved.