Architectural Considerations of Fiber-Radio Millimeter-Wave Wireless Access Systems.

The architecture of fiber-radio mm-wave wireless access systems critically depends upon the optical mm-wave generation and transport techniques. Four optical mm-wave generation and transport techniques: 1) optical self-heterodyning, 2) external modulation, 3) up- and downconversion, and 4) optical transceiver, will be assessed. From the technical viewpoints, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The economical assessment, focusing on the cost of a base station BS ( ), will suggest that the optical transceiver looks the most promising in the long run, but in the near future, however, the external modulation will be cost-effective. The experimental results of 60 GHz testbeds using the external modulation will support the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]