Architectural considerations of fiber-radio millimeter-wave wireless access systems

The architecture of fiber-radio mm-wave wireless access systems critically depends upon the optical mm-wave generation and transport techniques. Four optical mm-wave generation and transport techniques: 1) optical self-heterodyning, 2) external modulation, 3) up- and downconversion, and 4) optical transceiver, will be assessed. From the technical viewpoints, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The economical assessment, focusing on the cost of a base station BS (/), will suggest that the optical transceiver look the most promising in the long run, but in the near future, however, the external modulation I-till be cost-effective. The experimental results of 60 GHz testbeds using the external modulation will support the conclusion.