D. Coelho

Experimental evaluation of a digitized fiber-wireless system employing sigma delta modulation

Digitized radio-over-fiber (D-RoF) transport schemes are being pointed as viable alternative solutions to their analog counterparts, in order to avoid distortion/dynamic range problems. Here we propose a novel D-RoF architecture that takes advantage of a bandpass sigma-delta modulator at the transmitter which subsequently permits the usage of a simpler/cheaper base station that avoids the employment of a digital to analog converter. The proposed architecture exploits the properties of the digital signal to enable the extraction of an higher carrier frequency through the employment of a bandpass filter. Furthermore, we present a comprehensive analysis regarding the impact of a low-cost electro-optic modulation on the quality of received demodulated signal. Finally, a comparison performance analysis between the conventional D-RoF and the proposed architecture is presented. We conclude that although the proposed architecture performs similarly to conventional D-RoF schemes, it is more competitive for either upgrading installed systems as well as for new deployments.

Transmission of differential GPS signals over fiber for aircraft attitude determination

The Daphne project has been addressing the adoption of an optical fiber infrastructure for future aircrafts. Beyond the obvious motivation of reduced weight and electromagnetic interference, the availability of a huge amount of bandwidth makes the optical fiber well suited to transport Radio Frequency (RF) signals transparently, while avoiding cumbersome dedicated RF cabling. An integrated optical network may be exploited to transport radio signals from diverse aircraft antennas ranging from satellite/earth communications, collision avoidance, GPS signals for positioning and attitude determination, weather/detection RADAR to corrosion sensors. Such network can also support passenger infotainment and mobile communication services, such as cellular GSM/UMTS/LTE, broadband Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) and Ultra-Wide-Band Wimedia/WiGig. Specifically, the optical fiber infrastructure may provide connectivity from external antennas (through remote nodes) to RF transceivers installed in the cockpit and avionics bay (head-end nodes); in the context of the present paper, the transmission of differential GPS signals used to provide aircraft attitude information will be discussed. The use of GPS for aircraft attitude determination has been under discussion for more than 20 years [1]. It consists in performing carrier-phase differential processing of measurements from GPS antennas affixed to the frame of the aircraft, which yields centimeter- or millimeter-level accuracies, provided that integer phase ambiguities are resolved [2]. The attitude algorithm consists in a highly accurate real time kinematic (RTK) technique, given the short baseline distance between antennas, in which the main antenna acts as a Base station and two auxiliary antennas as Rovers. In the present experiment, we used a setup consisting of two-antennas (Base and Rover), which is enough to evaluate the RTK performance. A particular aspect of concern stems from the fact that the transmission of optical signals through a complex optical fiber network is subject to the occurrence of reflections in the multitude of connectors spanning the path between a remote node and a head-end node. Therefore, we will focus our analysis on the performance impact of optical reflections affecting the power level stability of the optical source.

UWB radio over perfluorinated GI-POF for low-cost in-building networks

This paper presents a performance evaluation of a multiband-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) ultra-wideband (UWB) signal transmission over two types of perfluorinated graded-index polymer optical fibers (PF-GI-POFs) with diameters of 62.5 µm and 120 µm, using a low-cost optical transceiver. Experimental measurements of packet error rate (PER) and minimum transmitted powers to achieve the maximum allowed PER show that it is possible to have a viable transmission at data rates of 480 Mbps, 200 Mbps and 53.3Mbps over 100, 150 and 200 meters of PF-GI-POF, respectively, preceded by a 1 meter wireless link

Experimental and theoretical performance assessment of WiFi-over-fiber using low cost directly modulated VCSELs

In this work, an in-depth analysis concerning the transmission performance of IEEE802.11g/n WiFi signals in a radio-over-fiber system is presented. Low-cost optical/electrical transceivers based on 850 nm vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and PIN photodiodes are considered. System modelling includes the impact of noise generated in the optical path, such as relative intensity noise (RIN), shot noise, photodetector thermal noise, clipping and intermodulation distortion. Analytic results based on Volterra series analysis for the performance of the system in terms of SNR and EVM for several optical modulation index values are obtained. The theoretical analysis is also compared with experimental results. Among several conclusions, it is observed that the laser intermodulation distortion, clipping and RIN are the most relevant factors.

OFDM signals in WDM radio-over-fiber networks with fiber Bragg grating selection

In this paper, we study the performance of OFDM signals in frequency-interleaved WDM radio-over-fiber (RoF) links with optical channel selection made by a uniform Fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The frequency-interleaved signals, transported over 10 km of standard single mode fiber, were transmitted in optical double-sideband (ODSB) format and filtered in optical single-sideband (OSSB) format. The simulations were being performed using the software VPI and the system performance was evaluated in terms of Error Vector Magnitude (EVM).The EVM is kept below 10% in the 100 and 400 Mbits/s for some optical power values and the system performance is limited by the dispersion in the FBG and nonlinearities in the optical modulator.

Assessment of noise impact on UWB signals in R-EAM based optical links

The measured characteristics of a R-EAM, acting as a base station, were used to assess the performance of a radio-over-fiber uplink for possible provision of wireless services within aircrafts. The specific case of deployment of UWB signals was analyzed. We conclude that laser RIN is a performance degradation factor that imposes a limit on the achievable SNR, especially for a zero biased modulator. A laser RIN of −160 dB/Hz would be required in order to avoid the RIN limitation. Additionally, in this case the performance becomes limited by shot noise. Although the zero bias case seems limitative, the R-EAM can be optimum biased using a small battery, which can last for several months, allowing the base-station to operate as a passive device.

Digitised radio techniques for fibre-wireless applications

In this paper we present a comprehensive analysis and a performance assessment on the transmission of digitised RF signals over optical fibre (DRoF). Specifically, a study of the impact of the ADC/DAC quantization, jitter noise and the signal attenuation caused by the sub-sampling technique and DAC frequency roll-off are addressed by means of simulation, considering the transmission of RF signals conveying QAM symbols. Additionally, an experimental evaluation of DRoF links using vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) for different optical fibre attenuation levels is also conducted. Finally, a new paradigm of DRoF systems based on well-known sigma-delta modulators (SDM) is also presented. Results show that it is possible to digitally transmit signals through a digital optical-based network and to distribute them wirelessly at the receiver side without the need for local oscillators (LO) and/or frequency up-converters. Results also show that the new sigma-delta-over-fibre concept performs similarly to conventional DRoF schemes, whilst being more competitive for either upgrading installed systems as well as for new deployments.

Experimental evaluation of a R-EAM and noise impact analysis for UWB and Wi-Fi transmission in RoF networks

The performance of a reflective electro-absorption modulator transceiver is assessed in terms of both slope efficiency (SE) and responsivity in a radio-over-fiber network. Different biasing schemes are analyzed, specifically zero bias (passive solution), bias for maximum SE, and bias for maximum responsivity. Finally, two case studies on multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ultra-wide band and Wi-Fi are presented, for which the optimum setup parameters are determined.

Performance Assessment of UWB-Over-Fiber and Applications

Since 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized the use of ultra-wideband (UWB) signal transmissions for unlicensed use, in the range from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz, leading to a revived interest in research activities and to new opportunities for companies to explore and develop new broadband indoor and outdoor applications [1]. Moreover, UWB is seen as a promising technology for short range high speed wireless networks.

Performance evaluation of zero-biased VCSEL for high speed data transmission

In an optical transceiver, the power consumption related to the operation of the laser device takes a significant parcel of the total consumed power. Thus, in optical networks where a large number of transceiver devices are interconnected, e.g. large distributed sensor networks, it is of great importance to reduce this power consumption. In this work an analysis and simulation results are presented regarding the operation of a bias-free vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) device, which is based on a previously developed model. The impact on bit-error rate (BER) of the increased turn-on jitter due to the bit-pattern and spontaneous emission is considered. A method for mitigating the eye-diagram distortion penalty based on the received signal equalization is also illustrated.