The future evolution of wireless networks, throughout the 5G era and beyond, will require the expansion and augmentation of millimetre-wave systems for both terrestrial and satellite communications. Photonic technologies offer a cost efficient and high bandwidth platform for millimetre-wave carrier generation and distribution, but can introduce high levels of phase noise through optical heterodyning, which is highly problematic for mobile signal waveforms. In this work, a detailed analytical model of a hybrid photonic/mm-wave system is developed and discussed. Through careful system design, the system is found to support both 5G compatible multi-carrier (OFDM) and single carrier (APSK) modulation at 60 GHz. APSK is found to offer higher tolerance mm-wave phase noise compared to OFDM, ultimately easing optical linewidth restrictions to ∼30 kHz. The model is extended to include a novel millimetre wave phase noise cancelling receiver, which is shown to significantly alleviate these restrictions even further—enabling phase noise free mm-wave operation for optical linewidths up to ∼2 MHz. Detailed analysis and discussion of this extended system lead to the establishment of a theoretical relationship between the mm-wave receiver design and the achievable system performance in terms of error vector magnitude (EVM). Excellent matching of the predicted theoretical with simulated performances is shown.
Analysis of Phase Noise in a Hybrid Photonic/Millimetre-Wave System for Single and Multi-Carrier Radio Applications
