Bidirectional mm-Wave ARoF Fronthaul over Multicore Fiber for 5G and Beyond

In this work we present, analyze, and demonstrate an efficient bidirectional ARoF system for K-band 5G fronthaul based on multicore fiber. As the 5G standard establishes, the experimental testbed is configured regarding the time division duplex scheduling and tested by transmitting OFDM signals. Furthermore, the configuration of the setup enables the reusability of several components for both directions, allowing the reduction of the power consumption, complexity, and cost of the system. The bidirectional testbed is experimentally evaluated under different bandwidth configurations and power levels, achieving a maximum throughput of 4Gbit/s over 9m of wireless link. The experimental results prove and validate the proposed bidirectional ARoF scheme as a promising solution for the future mm-Wave 5G fronthaul.