On supporting multiple signal formats
over a FUTON system
Filipe Ferreira1,2, Sílvia Pato1,2, Henrique Silva2, and Paulo Monteiro1,3
1
Nokia Siemens Networks Portugal S.A., R. Irmãos Siemens 1, 2720-093 Amadora, Portugal
2
Instituto de Telecomunicações, DEEC, Universidade de Coimbra, Pólo II, 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal
3
Instituto de Telecomunicações, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
filipe.ferreira@nsn.com
Abstract—The advances in wireless systems, allied to increasing
bandwidth demands, are driving the emergence of new network
architectures, such as Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS). It is
important that these networks are able to support simultaneously
several radio channels, optimizing the use of the available
resources and thereby maximizing the operators’ revenues. The
analysis of such scenario, where a DAS network supports several
radio channels using Sub-Carrier Multiplexing (SCM), is
presented in this paper. The support of multiple signal formats
used in 2G, 3G and 4G technologies over a DAS is evaluated, and
the system is proven to be feasible.
Keywords-Radio over Fibre; Distributed Antenna System; Sub-
Carrier Multiplexing; Mach-Zehnder Modulator
I. INTRODUCTION
The proliferation of bandwidth-hungry wireless services
and applications is driving telecommunication operators and
manufactures to find new solutions to cope with such demands.
Currently, only fixed network connections are able to provide
broadband services to the end-users, through copper and/or
optical fibre in the access segment of the network. However,
the mobility provided by a wireless connection created in the
end user a sense of freedom that he/she is compelled to
preserve. Therefore, the most desirable scenario from an end-
user perspective consists on being able to benefit from the high
capacities envisioned for next-generation fixed access
networks, while keeping the mobility provided by a wireless
connection.
In this context, a merge between wireless and optical
networks is envisioned to occur in the near future. This requires
modifications in the wireless network architecture, as it is
known nowadays. A promising approach consists on deploying
a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), with several simplified
antennas connected to a central headend [1]. This approach
allows supporting more users at higher data rates by using
smaller radio cells and higher carrier frequencies, thereby
avoiding increased propagation losses and line-of-sight
restrictions. The direct advantage of a DAS over a conventional
single antenna system is that the same area can be covered with
less power and improved reliability, because line-of-sight is
present more frequently and power losses resulting from wall
penetration and shadowing can be easily avoided. Moreover, a
DAS enables to concentrate the main radio signal processing
functions in a central location, thereby significantly reducing
the cost and complexity of the remote antennas sites and also
enabling inter-cell interference cancellation and the realization
of virtual MIMO links [2]. The availability of the radio signals
from heterogeneous systems at the same point furthermore
allows generalizing the concept of cross-layer to cross-system
enabling the development of efficient common radio resource
management algorithms.
A DAS network may be deployed using a diversity of
transmission media. Among these, the most future-proof is the
optical fibre, which provides a smooth transition towards a
complete merge of wireless and fixed access systems, due to its
inherent broadband and low loss characteristics. The digital
protocols specified for radio networks where the radio head is
supported remotely (CPRI [3] and OBSAI [4]) are expected to
be very expensive if they have to transport this large amount of
information [5]. A promising alternative is to use radio-over-
fibre (RoF) transmission technology [6], which enables less
complex and more energy efficient remote units to be used,
since all processing functionalities are allowed to be
concentrated at a central location. In such scenario, the radio
signals are transparently transported to/from multiple remote
antennas, through optical fibre. The FUTON project [7]
exploits this RoF DAS system, to attain the objectives specified
for IMT-Advanced [8]. The FUTON infrastructure should be
capable of supporting a wide range of wireless technologies,
from 2G, 3G and 4G, using distributed antennas or base
stations. It is important for FUTON prospects, and also for
operators adopting this approach, that different wireless
technologies, in terms of bandwidth, data rate or modulation
formats, will be simultaneously supported over the same
physical infrastructure. This is achievable with RoF, using sub-
carrier multiplexing (SCM), by allocating a separate radio
frequency channel to each system. SCM may also be applied
combined with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), to
differentiate the sectors of a particular remote antenna site.
This paper aims at evaluating the feasibility of supporting
several systems in a FUTON DAS scenario where the coverage
of a typical base station is extended through optical fibre to
multiple remote antennas, using SCM techniques.
 This paper is organized as follows. Section II reviews some
characteristics of RoF transmission, focusing on the use of
intensity modulation and direct detection. The description of
the scenario considered is presented in section III, followed by
the transmission performance evaluation of signal formats used
in 4G systems in section IV. The signal formats used in the 2G
and 3G legacy systems are analyzed in section V and some
concluding remarks are presented in section VI.
II. BRIEF TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
The analogue transmission of radio signals over optical fibre
is reviewed in this section, with emphasis on the electro-optical
components and on the SCM transmission technique.
RoF emerged a few decades ago, but until now it did not
have a widespread adoption. Besides CATV systems, which
use the hybrid fibre coaxial cable (HFC) technology, RoF was
not the technology of choice for access networks up to now.
However, the new wireless architectures and larger required
capacities will greatly benefit from using RoF, in terms of
simplicity and cost. The evolution observed on optical
components enables the design of a RoF system that supports
the transport of RF signals with advanced multilevel
modulation formats over significant distances, thereby enabling
its use in any next generation DAS network.
In a DAS network, the RF signals are transmitted through an
optical link from/to a central office (CO) to/from a set of
remote antenna sites. The characterization of the optical link is
very important in RoF systems. The simplest implementation
of the optical link includes a modulator device at the input end,
responsible for modulating the optical carrier with the electrical
signal, followed by an optical fibre that delivers the optical
signal to a photodetector, which recovers the electrical signal.
The analogue optical links are typically characterized by their
transparency to the format of the signals, which can be either
digital or analogue, taking into account some limitations
caused by additional noise and distortion [9].
A. Optical intensity modulation and direct detection
Intensity modulation of the optical carrier used for signal
transmission, combined with direct detection at the end side of
the link, is the widespread choice for RoF applications. The
simplest intensity modulation technique consists on directly
modulating the laser with the electrical signal, thereby
modulating its output power. Another option is to use external
modulation, where the laser operates in continuous wave (CW)
mode and an external device is responsible for intensity
modulating the laser output power. This option is not limited
by the modulation bandwidth of the laser, as happens with
direct modulation, enabling its use in applications demanding
higher bandwidth. Both approaches use a simple photodetector
at the receiving end.
There are several possible implementations for the external
intensity modulation, but the preferred one employs a Mach-
Zehnder modulator (MZM). MZMs are based on the use of the
electro-optic effect to change the phase of the input optical
field and on the use of a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI)
to convert the phase change into an intensity variation. For an
‘x-cut’ configuration with push-pull driving, the output optical
field, Eout(t), is given by [9]:
⎡ πV πV (t ) ⎤
E out (t ) = Ein (t ) cos ⎢ bias + ⎥, (1)
⎣ 2Vπ 2Vπ ⎦
where Ein(t) represents the input optical field, Vπ the voltage
necessary for a maximum-to-minimum optical output power
change, Vbias the constant voltage applied to bias the modulator
in one of the points of the transfer function in (1), and V(t) the
RF signal applied to the modulator.
In [10], a comparative analysis of directly modulated laser
(DML) and MZM based links is presented. For a sub-octave
transmission bandwidth (the scenario considered in the
following sections) both systems present a similar
performance. Therefore, from an economical perspective, the
DML would be the preferred choice for such scenario.
However, in the following sections the use of MZM is
considered, in order to allow for experimental validation with
the equipment available, therefore the use of DML will only be
considered and discussed in future work.
B. Sub-Carrier Multiplexing
The concept of SCM is based on the use of multiple signals
multiplexed in the frequency domain to modulate a single
optical carrier. This multiplexing scheme allows a significant
increase of the capacity of an optical transmission system,
benefiting from the fact that microwave devices are in general
more mature and less expensive than optical devices, which
enables the use of very stable low-cost filters with high
selectivity. An electrical channel may be transmitted through
the optical link in its baseband, at an intermediate frequency
(IF) or at the radio frequency (RF) used for wireless
transmission. In a DAS RoF network with simplified remote
antennas, the first two options require local oscillators located
in the remote sites, to perform electrical up-conversion of the
signals. In order to avoid this additional complexity in the
remote sites, this work assumes that radio signals are
transmitted using RF subcarriers.
III. NETWORK SCENARIO AND ELEMENTS
The simulated network scenario is a fibre-based system,
connecting a CO to multiple remote locations, which are
simple antenna sites in a DAS configuration, as illustrated in
Fig. 1. The optical fibre infrastructure includes passive WDM
equipment, such as multiplexers and demultiplexers, and thus
may be classified as a WDM passive optical network (WDM-
PON). Within the FUTON project, several fibre topologies
were analyzed and a good balance between the required
network capacity and cost may be achieved using a dense
WDM system, in which the power loss may be assumed to be
around 8 dB [11], excluding fibre losses. The simulated system
is operated in the 1500 nm window, and so the fibre attenuation
may be assumed to be around 0.2 dB/km. Since this network
scenario is meant to be deployed in the access segment, an
average distance of 20 km is considered between the CO and
the antenna sites.
 TABLE I. VALUES OF SIMULATION PARAMETERS

Parameter Value Unit

Output power 9 dBm
RIN -150 dBm/Hz
CW laser
Linewidth 100 kHz
Emission Frequency 193.1 THz
Vπ 5.5 V
MZM Extinction ratio 15 dB
Insertion loss 4.1 dB
Responsivity 0.8 A/W
Transimpedance 500 Ohm
Photodetector Equivalent input noise current 1.3 μA
Figure 1. Illustration of the network scenario. Noise bandwidth 8.5 GHz
Cutoff frequency 8 GHz
The performance evaluation considered the downstream
direction, from the CO towards the remote sites. Therefore, a IV. ANALOGUE TRANSMISSION OF QAM/OFDM SIGNALS
MZM-based transmitter was assumed to be located at the CO,
while the photodetector was placed in the antennas sites. A Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a
simplified representation of both modules is shown in Fig. 2. modulation scheme that encodes data concurrently on multiple
At the CO, a MZM biased in quadrature and driven by the RF carriers, allowing for increased amounts of data throughput
wireless signal in a push-pull configuration is used to modulate and robustness, thereby guaranteeing the most efficient use of
a CW beam emitted by the laser source. The signal generator the available bandwidth. The most relevant technology for 4G
module of Fig. 2 includes a Pseudo Random Binary Sequence systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE), employs OFDM as
(PRBS) generator (27-1 length) and a modulator, whose output multiplexing format. The LTE system is being developed as an
depends on the selected parameters for the wireless system to upgrade of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
be transmitted in that channel. At the receiver side, after (UMTS), with the first base stations being tested nowadays.
photodetection and amplification required to drive the antenna, Given the importance of OFDM in future generations, this
the signal is demodulated and analyzed to estimate the multiplexing format is considered in the following analysis.
performance measurements, which are produced by the signal The simulated QAM/OFDM signals are characterized by
analyzer module. The values of the main simulation parameters the main parameters presented in Table II. These signals are
for the CW laser, MZM and PIN photodiode are gathered in considered to have a data rate of 40 Mbit/s, and modulated
Table I. The use of SCM is considered when several RF using 64-QAM format, with a root-raised cosine (RRC) pulse
channels are intended to be simultaneously transmitted over the shape. The multiplexing method is OFDM with 256 sub-
same optical carrier. Since no up-conversion is used, the carriers (256 OFDM). Different simulations were performed
signals are simply demultiplexed by RF filters before considering just a single channel at 2.5 GHz, or 3 channels at
amplification. the frequencies included in Table II.
The assessment of the RoF link performance is presented in
TABLE II. QAM/OFDM SIMULATIONS PARAMETERS
terms of Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), input third-order
intercept point (IIP3) and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR). Data Rate Carrier Multiplex.
Modulation
(Mbit/s) Frequency (GHz) Method
2.25
64-QAM
40 2.50 256 OFDM
(RRC roll-of 0.18)
2.75

The system performance was evaluated using the EVM,

Figure 2. Simplified CO and antenna site simulation modules (NF: noise
figure; PC: polarization controller).
which is a measure of the signal degradation, mainly affected
by fibre link losses, by the photodiode noise and by the MZM
intrinsic nonlinearity. For QAM/OFDM signals, the LTE
standard [12] specifies a maximum of 8% EVM at the end of
the air link. The EVM values presented in the following results
were obtained at the end of the RoF link, i.e. for signals at the
input of the antenna, as schematized in Fig. 2. Therefore, a
margin should be considered in the simulation for signal
degradation over the air link, and thus a maximum allowed
EVM of 5% was assumed. Moreover, the RF amplifier located
before the antenna is usually operated near saturation, thereby
producing signal distortion. A lower EVM threshold of 3% was
therefore considered to provide an additional margin to account
for these possible distortion caused by the RF amplifiers.
 10% TABLE III. POWER MARGINS AND MAXIMUM REACH FOR QAM/OFDM
9% TRANSMISSION, FOR DIFFERENT EVM VALUES
8%
EVM 3% 5% 8%
7%
Number of
1 3 1 3 1 3
6% sub-carries
EVM

5% 0 km 33 28 39 35 45 41
4% Power 10 km 29 25 35 32 42 38
0 km margin
3% 20 km 25 21 32 28 38 34
10km (dB)
2% 30 km 21 17 28 24 34 30
20km
1% 30km Max. reach (km) 62 52 74 65 84 75
0%
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20
Input Power [dBm]
A. Experimental validation
Figure 3. EVM for QAM/OFDM signals transmission through different fibre The previous simulation results have shown the feasibility
lengths: single channel (continous lines) and three channels (dashed lines). of the analogue transmission of QAM/OFDM signals. In order
to validate these results, an experimental evaluation of the link
Fig. 3 presents the EVM as a function of the RF power at was performed. This used a Sumitomo 40 Gbit/s MZM, model
the input of the MZM, for different fibre lengths. The dashed DEH1.5-40PD, characterized by an insertion loss of 5 dB and
lines correspond to the average EVM for the transmission of 3 an extinction ratio of 35 dB. A CW laser (ECL-1520, OSICS
channels, whereas the continuous lines correspond to the EVM mainframe) with output power of 3 dBm was used, and an
for a single channel at 2.5 GHz. As shown in Fig. 3, from attenuation of 6 dB was included to emulate the link loss. The
lower to higher input powers, the EVM decreases towards a photodetector (Agere R2860D) has a maximum responsivity of
minimum EVM point, before increasing again. For low power 0.8 A/W. Note that, due to laboratory limitations, the
levels, the degradation of the signal constellation, evidenced by experimental parameters do not exactly correspond to the
the EVM values, is mainly due to fibre link losses and to the simulation parameters used in the remaining sections, although
noise introduced by the photodiode. The same performance is they are much approximated.
obtained for single channel or three channel operation, as
A signal modulated using 64-QAM and multiplexed using
shown by the overlap between the dashed and continuous
256 OFDM was transmitted over the link at a central frequency
curves, for each fibre length. However, as the power increases,
of 2.5 GHz. The results obtained experimentally and by
the nonlinearity of the MZM becomes significant, and the
simulation are compared in Fig. 4 and in Table IV, showing a
signal is distorted by the in-band interfering signals, as shown
very close match, thereby validating the performance measures
by the EVM increase. For higher power levels, an overlap
obtained by simulation for the RoF link.
between the dashed (continuous) curves for all fibre lengths is
shown in Fig. 3. This overlap evidences the MZM non-linearity 30%
as the main source of distortion. In the single channel case, a Experimental
smaller degradation is observed when compared to the 3 Simulation 25%
channels case, as the input power increases and the MZM
enters the nonlinear operating region. In this last scenario, the 20%
EVM

EVM starts increasing for lower powers than in the single

channel case, -5 dBm and -1 dBm, respectively. This was 15%
expectable since a higher degradation occurs in the 3 channels
10%
case due to the beating between channels, which generates
additional intermodulation products within the signal band [9].
5%
Table III presents the EVM power margin (comparable to
the total power dynamic range definition in [12], [13], [14]), 0%
-35 -25 -15 -5 5 15 25
calculated as the RF input power range that guarantees an
Input power [dBm]
EVM below a specified maximum, and the maximum reach
that guarantees transmission with a specified EVM maximum
Figure 4. EVM for QAM/OFDM transmission, using a central frequency
value, for the optimum RF input power. From Table III it can of 2.5 GHz: experimental (dots) and simulation (continuous).
be seen that the reach of 20 km, usually considered for access
networks, may be surpassed in all scenarios. For the most
restrictive scenario considered, a fibre length of 30 km and an TABLE IV. SUMMARY OF EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATION RESULTS
FOR THE ROF LINK
EVM limit of 3%, a power margin of 17 dB is obtained for the
simultaneous transmission of 3 QAM/OFDM channels. This SFDR
Gain (dB) IIP3 (dBm)
clearly indicates that RoF is suitable for transmission of next (dB.Hz2/3)
generation wireless signals (as specified in [12], the total power Experimental 22.51 16.34 90.31
dynamic range for LTE should be between 8 dB and 20 dB, Simulated 22.34 17.34 90.75
depending on the signal bandwidth).
 V. SUPPORT OF DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES
0
As previously referred, it is very important to guarantee the GMSK/FDM, QPSK/CDMA
support of legacy systems in the next generation architectures. -2 and QAM/OFDM
Only GMSK/FDM
In such context, this section presents the performance -4
assessment of the analogue DAS network, when 4G-like
signals are transmitted in simultaneous with 2G- and 3G-like -6

log10(BER)
signals. The support of legacy systems was evaluated for -8
GMSK/FDM and QPSK/CDMA signals, representing GSM
(2G) and UMTS (3G) technologies, respectively. Table V -10
gathers the main parameters used in the simulations. -12

TABLE V. GMSK/FDM, QPSK/CDMA AND QAM/OFDM -14

SIMULATIONS PARAMETERS
-16
-51 -46 -41 12 17 22
Data Rate Carrier Multiplex.
Modulation Input Power [dBm]
(Mbit/s) Frequency (GHz) Method
0.25 0.9 GMSK (BT=0.5) FDM
QPSK Figure 6. BER for GMSK/FDM transmission for a reach of 20 km: single
4 2.12 CDMA channel (red line) and GMSK/FDM+QPSK/CDMA+QAM/OFDM
(RRC roll-of 0.22)
64-QAM (blue line).
40 2.5 256 OFDM
(RRC roll-off 0.18)
The performance of GMSK/FDM signals is presented in
Fig. 5 depicts the EVM as a function of the RF input power, Fig. 6, using the bit-error rate (BER) measure, for a fibre length
for QPSK/CDMA and QAM/OFDM signals, considering a of 20 km. The BER estimation is obtained by averaging the
fibre length of 20 km. The dashed lines correspond to the BER values obtained for the in-phase and quadrature
transmission of a single QPSK/CDMA or QAM/OFDM components. The performance of a single GMSK/FDM signal
channel, and the continuous lines correspond to the is shown by the red curve, while the blue curve corresponds to
QPSK/CDMA or QAM/OFDM signals, when GMSK/FDM, the GMSK/FDM signal transmitted together with
QPSK/CDMA and QAM/OFDM signals are simultaneously QPSK/CDMA and QAM/OFDM channels.
transmitted, with the simulation parameters gathered in Table The results presented in Fig. 6 show that GMSK/FDM is
V. The EVM curve for the transmission of 3 QAM/OFDM more resilient to the nonlinearities of the RoF system than
channels is presented in red (Fig. 5). QPSK/CDMA or QAM/OFDM, since an error free
Fig. 5 shows a lower EVM degradation in the nonlinear transmission is obtained for a larger power margin, either for a
region, for a QAM/OFDM signal transmitted simultaneously single GMSK/FDM signal transmission or for the simultaneous
with GMSK/FDM and QPSK/CDMA (blue line), than when 3 transmission of GMSK/FDM, QPSK/CDMA and
QAM/OFDM channels (red line) are considered. This is QAM/OFDM signals. A BER < 10-12 is only obtained for
justified by the unequal separation between the channels in the powers higher than 22 dBm and 14.5 dBm, for each case,
first case, which results in a reduced number of in-band respectively. This resilience of the GMSK/FDM modulation is
intermodulation products. This situation differs from the one due to its constant envelope, which makes the signal less
described in section IV, where the tones were equally separated vulnerable to nonlinear distortion.
in frequency, resulting in a higher intermodulation distortion. Table VI shows the power margins, in dB, for
GMSK/FDM, QPSK/CDMA and QAM/OFDM signals for the
10%
single channel transmission (labelled 1C) and for the joint
9% transmission of the 3 systems (labelled 3C), for different EVM
8% and BER values. The UMTS standard [14] specifies a
7% maximum EVM of 17.5%. As explained in section IV, for the
6% QAM/OFDM performance evaluation lower EVM levels were
assumed, to provide a margin for further degradation due to
EVM

5%
4% transmission over the air link. The power margin values
QAM/OFDM 3%
presented in Table VI cope with the minimum requirements
specified for GSM (<= 30 dB) [13], UMTS (>= 18 dB) [14]
QPSK/CDMA 2%
and LTE [12], thereby showing the feasibility of all wireless
1%
QAM/OFDM 3 Ch systems. As expected, the most critical scenario is the
0% simultaneous transmission of 3 QAM/OFDM channels.
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20
Input Power [dBm] The results presented in this section show that a RoF
network is suitable for the simultaneous transmission of
Figure 5. EVM for QAM/OFDM and QPSK/CDMA transmission for a different wireless systems, covering the legacy generations, 2G
reach of 20 km: GMSK/FDM+QPSK/CDMA+QAM/OFDM (continuous
and 3G, as well as the future 4G generation.
lines) and single channel (dashed lines) .
 TABLE VI. GMSK/FDM, QPSK/CDMA AND QAM/OFDM POWER REFERENCES
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