Signal Quality Analysis of Microwave Photonic Filtering for 6G Communications

We have demonstrated that a 1.5 Gbps signal can be transmitted through a microwave photonic filter (MWPF) in the 24 GHz band, which belongs to the FR3 (Frequency Range 3) upper mid band (7–24 GHz), a range gaining attention for 6G communication. The MWPF was implemented with a free spectral range (FSR) of 12.3 GHz, a center frequency of 24.67 GHz, and a 3dB bandwidth of 2.24 GHz. In the signal quality test, The PRBS (Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence) signals with data rates of 500 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and 1.5 Gbps that passed through the MWPF were received by the BERT (Bit Error Ratio Tester), and the eye diagrams were successfully checked for each. This results successfully demonstrated the potential application of MWPFs in future 6G communications. Taking advantage of the programmable nature of MWPF, we plan to conduct additional signal quality tests in other 6G frequency bands. In future work, by utilizing the coherence properties of the optical frequency comb (OFC), we aim to achieve significant data rates, further proving that MWPFs are suitable devices for 6G communication.