High-dynamic-range wireless-over-fiber link using feedforward linearization

We demonstrate the implementation of feedforward linearization at 5 GHz, which is the highest operating frequency yet reported, with 500-MHz linearization bandwidth having at least 24-dB distortion suppression. Simultaneous reduction of 26-dB third-order intermodulation distortion and 7-dB laser-noise reduction is achieved at 5.2 GHz, leading to enhanced spurious-free dynamic range of 107 dB (1 Hz) in a directly modulated uncooled semiconductor laser for applications in wireless-over-fiber (WoF) systems. This paper also provides detailed analysis on feedforward, theoretical distortion reduction, criteria for component selection, and the effect of dispersion. The effectiveness of feedforward in a multichannel system is demonstrated at 5.8 GHz for fixed wireless systems, such as WiMAX. These results suggest that the feedforward-linearization arrangement can make practical multichannel and multioperator WoF systems.