Design and performance analysis of a multi-wavelength radio-over-fiber system for high-capacity wireless communications

Abstract To fulfil the need for higher capacity and multi-user networks, Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) technology is a promising solution for obtaining higher bandwidth and efficiency over an optical fiber-based infrastructure network. RoF, when integrated with WDM, can support higher bandwidth and also provide flexibility in optical wireless networks. In the proposed work, a four-channel WDM-RoF-enabled technology is discussed and simulated. The proposed system operates at a rate of 2.5 Gbps and with a carrier centered at a frequency of 193.1 THz, 193.2 THz, 193.3 THz, and 193.4 THz. The signal after multiplexing is transmitted at 20 Kms with using a single-mode optical fiber and then amplified with a 10 dB EDFA to compensate for the losses, which at the receiver side is recovered using the process of demultiplexing, photodetection, and signal regeneration. The performance is analyzed with the metrics in the form of BER and Q-factor. The results of multi-user data transmission over an optical wireless integrated infrastructure which provides an acceptable signal for communication. The proposed system provides an efficient and flexible solution for 5G networks.