RACE R2005 - MICROWAVE OPTICAL DUPLEX ANTENNA LINK

The paper describes the results to date of the RACE project R2005. The project addresses the optical generation and fibre delivery of mm-wav e signals for future mobile radio and remote customer access connectio ns. The authors identify potential application areas and appropriate p erformance targets for such fibre/mm-wave systems. The major issue ide ntified is the need to achieve low-cost antenna units due to the large number of such units that would be required; this arises from the lim ited propagation distances achieveable at mm-wave frequencies. A brief review of current optical methods for the generation of mm-waves allo ws the identification of the inadequacies of these techniques and lead s to a description of a new method, developed for the project, that ov ercomes most of the disadvantages outlined earlier.