Photonics-based transceivers for fiber-wireless networks

The increase of data traffic in wireless networks is requiring the bandwidth of photonics for the antenna data relay. While the distribution of RF signals through Radio-over-Fiber has become a well-accepted and established technology thanks to the low loss of fibers in signal transportation, photonics still has lot to offer to the radio world. RF signal generation, detection, and conditioning (e.g., filtering, delaying, phase shifting) can be realized through photonic techniques, taking advantage of the broad bandwidth and flexibility of photonic devices, and allowing the realization of entire photonics-based radio transceivers, also including beamforming capabilities. This paper overviews the main functionalities offered by photonics in the radio scenario, highlighting their advantages and the related techniques. Then, it focuses on some examples of photonics-based radio transceiver demonstrators, reporting on their performance and discussing on their possible on-field implementation.