Experimental assessment of WLAN performance supported in a fiber-radio network

In this paper we experimentally evaluate the performance of a fiber supported radio application, namely WiFi IEEE802.11n, using a low power consumption base-station based on a reflective electro absorption modulator and commercial transceivers. We conclude that the proposed setup is suitable to achieve a transmission of 20 Mbit/s over a 4m wireless channel. A theoretical signal to noise ratio analysis is also carried out, based on experimental results. Finally, we evaluate the possibility of employing the proposed setup in a passive optical network, concluding that this solution may not be cost effective.