SOA-EAM frequency up/down-converters for 60-GHz bi-directional radio-on-fiber systems

We investigate a frequency up/down-converter based on a single cascaded semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-electroabsorption modulator (EAM) configuration for bi-directional 60-GHz-band radio-on-fiber (RoF) system applications. SOA cross-gain modulation and photodetection in EAM are used for frequency up-conversion, and EAM nonlinearity is used for frequency down-conversion. In our scheme, both 60-GHz local-oscillator (LO) signals and IF signals are optically transmitted from a central station to base stations. We characterize the dependence of frequency up/down-conversion efficiencies on EAM bias and optical LO power. For frequency up-conversion, maximum conversion gain of approximately 8 dB was obtained and, for frequency down-conversion, more than approximately 18-dB conversion loss was measured. Utilizing this frequency up/down converter, we demonstrate a 60-GHz bi-directional RoF link. Optically transmitted downlink 10-Mb/s quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) data at 100-MHz IF are frequency up-converted to the 60-GHz band at the base station, and uplink 10-Mb/s QPSK data in the 60-GHz band are frequency down-converted to 150-MHz IF and transmitted to the central station. In addition, the dependence of error vector magnitudes on IF signal power and wavelength is investigated.