DWDM-PON/mm-Wave wireless converged Next Generation Access Topology using coherent heterodyne detection

A radio-over-fibre system using coherent optical heterodyne detection scheme is proposed, to achieve seamless integration of a photonic Remote Antenna Unit (RAU) into a Next Generation Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed Passive Optical Network (NG DWDM-PON). The proposed scheme significantly simplifies the optical mm-wave generation and data recovery as it doesn't require any high-bandwidth modulator at the central office or high-frequency Local Oscillators (LOs) at either the central office or the customer unit; or optical phase-locking techniques to generate the mm-wave wireless signal. A proof-of-concept transmission utilizing 1 Gb/s On-Off Keying is experimentally demonstrated.