Millimeter wave over fiber-a new approach

This paper is concerned with a new approach to millimeter wave fiber optic links which is examined in the context of an optically fed wireless communication system. As cells of the wireless communication systems become smaller (picocells) in a densely populated area, there is necessity to advance to the millimeter wave region where rapid signal fading occurs. The system comprises of a central station, which must provide the millimeter wave subcarrier as well as the different information channels. The base stations which transmit and receive the millimeter wave carriers must be of low cost. In this configuration the base stations use inexpensive MMIC components: filters, amplifiers, mixers, patch antennas and other standard circuit elements. The system described is generic and can be adopted to numerous commercial and military applications, such as fiber optic feed networks for phase array antennas.