Multimode fiber passive optical network for IEEE 802.11 signal distribution

In this paper, we present a novel concept of the IEEE 802.11n signal distribution over a multimode fiber passive optical network. In the study we provide a theory on the sources of potential interference in such a network, namely optical beat interference and modal noise, and ways to mitigate them. We demonstrate a passive optical distribution network deployed in a real environment of the faculty's building. Our deployment utilizes custom designed remote antenna units. In the paper, we provide a series of network throughput measurements in different scenarios. These results confirm the correctness of our solution and show its excellent performance. The latter proves the network to be optically transparent. The distribution network does not downgrade the transmission rate when compared to the sole radio access point, and in addition it significantly increases the overall radio coverage.