Capacity analysis for a WDM fiber-radio backbone incorporating wavelength-interleaving

We have investigated network capacity limitations for star-tree WDM mm-wave fiber-radio systems incorporating wavelength-interleaving technique to increase optical spectral efficiency. A model was developed based on link budget calculations to provide estimations of the network capacity which can also be utilized to find the optimum network architecture in conjunction with other factors such as cost. It was found that a completely passive feeder network offers simplicity however is limited by a maximum network reach of 9 km. A pre-amplification arrangement enables a centralized control architecture, however amplifier saturation effects limit the System capacity to 100 channels with a network reach of 50 km. Incorporating an amplified RN architecture (post-amplification) significantly increases the overall capacity however increased cost and network management complexity trade-offs must be also take into account.