Real-time ultra-wideband video streaming in long-reach passive optical networks with wireless radiation in the 10 and 60 GHz Bands

Abstract

Real-time video streaming using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is experimentally demonstrated along long-reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs) with different wired and wireless reaches. Experimental tests using external and direct modulation with UWB wireless radiation in the 10- and 60-GHz bands are performed. An ultra-bendable fiber is also considered for a last-mile distribution. The video quality at the output of the optical fiber infrastructure of the LR-PON is assessed using the error vector magnitude (EVM), and the link quality indicator (LQI) is used as a figure of merit after wireless radiation. An EVM below -17 dB is achieved for both externally and directly modulated LR-PONs comprising up to 125 km of optical fiber. EVM improvement is observed for longer LR-PONs when directly modulated lasers (DMLs) are used because of the amplitude gain provided by the combined effect of dispersion and DML's chirp. Compared with optical back-to-back operation, the LQI level degrades to the maximum around 20% for LR-PONs ranging between 75 and 125 km of fiber reach and with a wireless coverage of 2 m in the 10-GHz UWB band. The same level of LQI degradation is observed using the 60-GHz UWB band with a LR-PON integrating 101 km of access network, a last-mile distribution using ultra-bendable fiber, and a 5.2-m wireless link. © 2013 Chinese Optics Letters.