Millimeter-Wave and UWB Over a Colorless WDM-PON Based on Polarization Multiplexing Using a Polarization Modulator

A broadband millimeter-wave (mmW) at 60-GHz band and an impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) over a colorless 100-GHz dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) passive optical network (PON) that supports simultaneous transmission of a broadband mmW signal, a UWB signal and a wireline baseband signal is experimentally demonstrated. At the transmitter, a polarization modulator (PolM) is employed, which operates in conjunction with a polarization controller (PC) and a polarization beam splitter (PBS) as an equivalent Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM). For 60-GHz and IR-UWB signal transmission, the equivalent MZM is biased at the minimum transmission point to generate two sidebands that are separated at a frequency in the 60-GHz band, and the wireless signals (60 GHz and IR-UWB) are carried by the two sidebands. For the wireline baseband transmission, the equivalent MZM is biased at the maximum transmission point to generate only the optical carrier, and the wireline signal is carried by the optical carrier. The wireline signal and the wireless signals are orthogonally polarized and sent over a single-mode fiber (SMF) to a base station (BS). For each WDM channel in the central station (CS) and the BS, since no optical filters are employed, colorless operation is supported. Point-to-point error-free transmission of a 1.25-Gbps mmW signal, a 1.25-Gbps IR-UWB signal and a 10-Gbps wireline signal over a 25-km SMF is experimentally demonstrated. The number of users that can be supported by the proposed colorless WDM-PON is estimated based on the measured receiver sensitivities.