Analytical Time-Domain Model for Radio over Free Space Optical (RoFSO) Systems Considering the Scintillation Effect

An analytical time-domain model is presented to analyze a radio over free space optical (RoFSO) system considering the scintillation effect with a log-normal distribution. This analytical model uses a dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (DD-MZM) and photodetector (PD) for typical optical double sideband (ODSB) and single sideband (OSSB) signals. We show the output current of PD as a function of the summation of each frequency component in time domain. Finally, we calculate the received signal power with respect to the power spectral density (PSD) and derive a closed-form average bit error rate (BER) performance.