Broadband V-band Radio over Fiber Uplink Fronthaul Transmission Using Cascaded Microwave Photonic Downconversion Topology

Exploiting microwave photonic (MWP) techniques to generate and distribute high-frequency millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signals, termed mm-wave radio over fiber (m-RoF) signals, holds considerable potential for achieving high-density and high-capacity fifth-generation and beyond networks. Herein, we experimentally validate a broadband m-RoF uplink fronthaul transmission system using the MWP downconversion concept, which comprises receiving and processing radio-frequency (RF) signals in the unlicensed V-band at around 60 GHz. The proposed system harnesses the simple cascaded modulator topology, in which an ultrawideband off-the-shelf Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) renders a simple-structured remote radio head by directly encoding the broadband 60 GHz uplink RF signal into the optical carrier. The nonlinear transfer function of another MZM at the center unit is explored to achieve subharmonic downconversion using cost-effective low-frequency local oscillator signals. Based on proof-of-concept experiments, mm-wave four quadrature amplitude modulation orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing signals centered at frequencies ranging from 51 GHz to 70 GHz are successfully downconverted into signals at the intermediate frequency (IF) of 1. 4 GHz. In the case of 1. 2 m mm-wave, free-space, and 5 km m-RoF transmissions, the obtained IF signals with a total bandwidth of 2. 4 GHz achieve a bit-to-error ratio performance lower than the 7% hard-decision forward error correction limit of 3. 8 x 10(-3). A gross bit rate of 10 Gbit/s can be achieved over a total spectrum of up to 10 GHz, which fully covers the globally unlicensed V-band of 57-66 GHz.