Throughput measurement of prototype radio over fiber system for BcN wireless access infrastructure

Wireless communication has experienced enormous growth during the past decade, primarily driven by mobile cellular systems for voice communications, but more recently by the use of wireless local area networks(WLANs) for corporate enterprises and hot spot areas. However, mobile operators will face many challenges both economically and technically, as WLAN evolve through a bewildering number of different standards during the coming years. Potentially this will require several upgrades to the WLAN infrastructure. A new approach for addressing these challenges is evaluated in this paper. It is based on a radio over fiber (RoF) technology that uses electroabsorption modulator (EAM) and off-the-shelf WLAN access point, and it promises to provide solutions that will be transparent to changes in protocols and frequency of operation as well as reducing radio access infrastructure costs.