Comprehensive approach toward the feasibility of radio over fiber technology for WiMAX systems

To meet the explosive demands of high-capacity and broadband wireless access, modern cell-based wireless networks have trends, i.e. continuous increase in the number of cells and utilization of higher frequency bands. It leads to a large amount of Base Stations (BSs) to be deployed; therefore, cost-effective BS development is a key to success in the market. In order to reduce the system cost, Radio over Fiber (RoF) technology has been proposed since it provides functionally simple BSs that are interconnected to a central Control Station via an optical fiber. The well-known advantages of optical fiber as a transmission medium such as low loss, light weight, large bandwidth characteristics, small size, and low cable cost make it the ideal and most flexible solution for efficiently transporting radio signals to remotely located antenna sites in a wireless network. In addition to its transmission properties, the insensitivity of fiber optic cables to electromagnetic radiation is a key benefit in their implementation as the backbone of a wireless network. This paper will provide an overview of RoF technology, followed by the description of suitable architectures for the deployment of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) networks employing RoF systems. Main issues and challenges in the deployment of WiMAX employing RoF technology will be discussed in detail after reviewing some experimental and theoretical work. Furthermore, a simulation model for IEEE 802.16e is studied and simulation results are shown.