IEEE 802.11a Data Over Fiber Transmission Using Electromagnetic Bandgap Photonic Antenna With Integrated Asymmetric Fabry–PÉrot Modulator/Detector

We report bidirectional link characterization and the first IEEE 802.11a wireless local area network (WLAN) data transmission using an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) photonic antenna with an integrated InGaAs/AlInGaAs multiple quantum-well (MQW) asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulator/detector (AFPM). The dual-function AFPM performs as an optical intensity modulator on the uplink and as a conventional photodetector on the downlink in a single device. This new InGaAs/AlInGaAs AFPM device has also shown an improved modulation slope -dR/dV of 17%/V, where dR is the differential optical reflectance and dV is the differential terminal voltage, compared to the previously reported 6%/V achieved with an InGaAsP/InGaAsP MQW AFPM. Half-duplex IEEE 802.11a connection was successfully established between a laptop computer and the photonic antenna which in turn was connected via an optical fiber to a wireless access point. A maximum data throughput of 7 Mbps was achieved at 8-m separation between the laptop and the photonic antenna.