Wireless indoor communications using an optical highway

The wireless indoor communications system employing an optical backbone provides an economic and flexible approach for local area networks in office buildings. In this approach the wireless communication serves small picocells that are: interconnected by optical highways. The performance of the system is enhanced by assigning specific subcarriers for the individual picocells which enables the transmission of the radio channels without altering their modulation format. The reception is simplified by a direct optical-microwave mixing method providing simultaneous optical detection and frequency shifting. This method allows for simple and cost-effective radio nodes.