Co-transmission of optically-carried 5G NR signal and over 14-W power light via standard single-mode fiber.

Co-transmission of optically-carried broadband wireless communication signal and power light in standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) is the supporting technology for realizing remotely-powered antenna units in the next-generation wireless communication networks. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the co-transmission of optically-carried fifth-generation new radio (5G NR) signal and over 14-W power light via a spool of SSMF with a length of 1 km. Thereinto, the optical power transmission efficiency (OPTE), which is restricted by stimulated Brillouin scattering, is increased via extending the linewidth of the power light to 1 nm. Additionally, the in-band interference and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation of the optically-carried 5G NR signal, which are attributed to the noise transference and the modulation instability induced by the Kerr effect and the stimulated Raman scattering effect, are suppressed through group-velocity dispersion management via carefully designing the wavelengths of the signal light and the power light. In the simulation, a 7-dB reduction in the noise floor and a significant rejection of the spurious signals are achieved via shifting the signal light wavelength from 1550 nm to 1310 nm. In the experiment, the OPTE of the power light reaches around 70%, and the received power fluctuation is smaller than 1% within 90 min. The received maximum electrical power is larger than 0.9 W with a regulated voltage of 12 V, which is sufficient to power the minimalist antenna unit. Besides, the error vector magnitude (EVM) and the adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the received 256-level quadrature amplitude modulation (256-QAM) 5G NR signal are below 2.5% and −40 dBc, respectively. The experimental results conclusively demonstrate the feasibility of the co-transmission link to enable remote power supply for the minimalist antenna unit in the beyond fifth-generation and sixth-generation fronthaul networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]