Feasibility Study and Experimental Verification of Simplified Fiber-Supported 60-GHz Picocell Mobile Backhaul Links

Abstract

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a fiber-wireless transmission system for optimized delivery of 60-GHz radio frequency (RF) signals through picocell mobile backhaul connections. We identify advantages of 60-GHz links for utilization in short-range mobile backhaul through feasibility analysis and comparison with an alternative E-band (60-90 GHz) technology. The 60-GHz fiber-wireless-fiber setup is then introduced: two spans of up to 20 km of optical fiber are deployed and bridged by up to 4 m of wireless distance. The 60-GHz radio-over-fiber technology is utilized in the first span of fiber transmission. The system is simplified and tailored for delivery of on-off keying data signals by employing a single module for lightwave generation and modulation combined with a simplified RF downconversion technique by envelope detection. Data signals of 1.25 Gb/s are transmitted, and a bit-error-rate performance below the 7% overhead forward-error-correction limit is achieved for a range of potential fiber deployment scenarios. A spurious free dynamic range of 73 dB-Hz2/3 is attained for a frequency-doubling photonic RF upconversion technique. The power budget margin that is required to extend the wireless transmission distance from 4 m to a few hundred meters has been taken into account in the setup design, and the techniques to extend the wireless distance are analyzed. © 2013 IEEE.