In-band full-duplex (IBFD) technology can enable unique system capabilities and network architectures by allowing devices to transmit and receive on the same frequency at the same time. While previously considered impossible, this ability can now be used to optimize resource sharing within the crowded frequency spectrum for various communication systems, including 5G new radio. The potential of these IBFD systems can only be realized if each device incorporates a sufficient number of self-interference cancellation techniques to ensure that its receivers do not saturate. This tutorial survey offers the most comprehensive collection to date of these techniques and discusses how all of them can be implemented within the different domains of a typical transceiver. In addition, the results of a novel IBFD system study are presented for more than 50 demonstrated communication systems with more than 80 different measurement scenarios. The various system parameters are then combined into a new figure of merit, which can be used to propel future research and accelerate the inclusion of IBFD technology within an upcoming wireless standard.

In-Band Full-Duplex Technology: Techniques and Systems Survey

The key drivers of 6G result not only from the challenges and performance limits that 5G presents but also from the technology-driven paradigm shift and the continuous evolution of wireless networks. Intelligent driving and industry revolutions create core requirements for 6G that will lead to service classes of ubiquitous mobile ultrabroadband (uMUB), ultrahighspeed-with-low-latency communications (uHSLLC), and ultrahigh data density (uHDD).

6G Technologies: Key Drivers, Core Requirements, System Architectures, and Enabling Technologies

Client-side optics are facing an ever-increasing upgrading pace, driven by upcoming 5G related services and datacenter applications. The demand for a single lane data rate is soon approaching 200 Gbps. To meet such high-speed requirement, all segments of traditional intensity modulation direct detection (IM/DD) technologies are being challenged. The characteristics of electrical and optoelectronic components and the performance of modulation, coding, and digital signal processing (DSP) techniques are being stretched to their limits. In this context, we witnessed technological breakthroughs in several aspects, including development of broadband devices, novel modulation formats and coding, and high-performance DSP algorithms for the past few years. A great momentum has been accumulated to overcome the aforementioned challenges. In this article, we focus on IM/DD transmissions, and provide an overview of recent research and development efforts on key enabling technologies for 200 Gbps per lane and beyond. Our recent demonstrations of 200 Gbps short-reach transmissions with 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) and discrete multitone signals are also presented as examples to show the system requirements in terms of device characteristics and DSP performance. Apart from digital coherent technologies and advanced direct detection systems, such as Stokes–vector and Kramers–Kronig schemes, we expect high-speed IM/DD systems will remain advantageous in terms of system cost, power consumption, and footprint for short reach applications in the short- to mid- term perspective.

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200 Gbps/Lane IM/DD Technologies for Short Reach Optical Interconnects

Photonics-based microwave frequency mixing provides distinct features in terms of wide frequency coverage, broad instantaneous bandwidth, small frequency-dependent loss, and immunity to electromagnetic interference as compared with its electronic counterpart, which can be a key technical enabler for future broadband and multifunctional RF systems. Herein, all-optical and optoelectronic microwave frequency mixing techniques are reviewed, with an emphasis on the latest advances in photonics-based microwave frequency mixers with improved performance in terms of conversion efficiency, dynamic range, mixing-spur suppression, mixing functionality, and polarization independence. Innovative applications enabled by photonics-based microwave frequency mixers, such as radio-over-fiber communication systems, radar systems, satellite payloads and electronic warfare systems, are also reviewed. In addition, efforts in implementing integrated photonics-based microwave mixers that lead to a dramatic reduction in size, weight, and power consumption are also reviewed.

Photonics-Based Microwave Frequency Mixing: Methodology and Applications

The introduction of millimeter wave (mm-wave) frequency bands for cellular communications with significantly larger bandwidths compared to their sub-6 GHz counterparts, the resulting densification of network deployments and the introduction of antenna arrays with beamforming result in major increases in fronthaul capacity required for 5G networks As a result, a radical re-design of the radio access network is required since traditional fronthaul technologies are not scaleable In this article the use of analog radio-over-fiber (ARoF) is proposed and demonstrated as a viable alternative which, combined with space division multiplexing in the optical distribution network as well as photonic integration of the required transceivers, shows a path to a scaleable fronthaul solution for 5G The trade-off between digitized and analog fronthaul is discussed and the ARoF architecture proposed by blueSPACE is introduced Two options for the generation of ARoF two-tone signals for mm-wave generation via optical heterodyning are discussed in detail, including designs for the implementation in photonic integrated circuits as well as measurements of their phase noise performance The proposed photonic integrated circuit designs include the use of both InP and SiN platforms for ARoF signal generation and optical beamforming respectively, proposing a joint design that allows for true multi-beam transmission from a single antenna array Phase noise measurements based on laboratory implementations of ARoF generation based on a Mach–Zehnder modulator with suppressed carrier and with an optical phase-locked loop are presented and the suitability of these transmitters is evaluated though phase noise simulations Finally, the viability of the proposed ARoF fronthaul architecture for the transport of high-bandwidth mm-wave 5G signals is proven with the successful implementation of a real-time transmission link based on an ARoF baseband unit with full real-time processing of extended 5G new radio signals with 800 MHz bandwidth, achieving transmission over 10 km of 7-core single-mode multi-core fiber and 9 m mm-wave wireless at 255 GHz with bit error rates below the limit for a 7% overhead hard decision forward error correction

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Towards a Scaleable 5G Fronthaul: Analog Radio-over-Fiber and Space Division Multiplexing

All-digital radio-over-fiber (RoF) transmission has attracted a significant amount of interest in digital-centric systems or centralized networks because it greatly simplifies the front-end hardware by using digital processing. The sigma-delta modulator (SDM)-based all-digital RoF approach pushes the digital signal processing as far as possible into the transmit chain. We present a real-time 100-GS/s fourth-order single-bit SDM for all-digital RoF transmission in the high-frequency band without the aid of analog/optical up-conversion. This is the fastest sigma-delta modulator reported and this is also the first real-time demonstration of sigma-delta-modulated RoF in the frequency band above 24 GHz. 4.68 Gb/s (2.34 Gb/s) 64-QAM is transported over 10-km standard single-mode fiber in the C-band with 6.46 $\text{}\%$ (4.73 $\%$ ) error vector magnitude and 3.13 Gb/s 256-QAM can be even received in an optical back-to-back configuration. The carrier frequency can be digitally tuned at run-time, covering a wide frequency range from 22.75 to 27.5 GHz. Besides, this high-speed sigma-delta modulator introduces less than 1 μs latency in the transmit chain. Its all-digital nature enables network virtualization, making the transmitter compatible with different existing standards. The prominent performance corroborates the strong competitiveness of this SDM-based RoF approach in high-frequency RoF 5G communication.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8648422/file/8648423.pdf

Real-Time 100-GS/s Sigma-Delta Modulator for All-Digital Radio-Over-Fiber Transmission

In-band full-duplex (FD) wireless communication allows the simultaneous transmission and reception of data at the same frequency band, effectively doubling the spectral efficiency and data rate while reducing the latency. Previously published designs mostly target the self-interference (SI) cancellation in conventional wireless systems. In this paper, we focus on real-time SI cancellation for short-reach wireless FD systems. The superior signal quality of a point-to-point short-reach wireless system, allows the utilization of wideband communications to achieve a high throughput. Besides, in such wireless systems, the impacts of phase noise and nonlinear distortions are largely reduced, easing the SI cancellation. Moreover, the degradation of signal reception quality due to FD operation is experimentally evaluated in different environments. Experimental results of a prototype implementation show that a combination of antenna isolation and digital cancellation can already achieve an overall SI cancellation performance of 72.5 dB over a bandwidth of 123 MHz. This prototype can support a high-data-rate FD communication link of close to 1 Gbps up to 300 cm with an error vector magnitude lower than −26 dB in a typical indoor environment.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8578310/file/8627163.pdf

Self-Interference Cancellation Enabling High-Throughput Short-Reach Wireless Full-Duplex Communication

A new high-speed delta–sigma modulator (DSM) topology is proposed by cascading a bit reduction process with a multi-stage noise shaping MASH-1-1 DSM. This process converts the two-bit output sequence of the MASH-1-1 DSM to a single-bit sequence, merely compromising the DSM noise-shaping performance. Furthermore, the high clock frequency requirements are significantly relaxed by using parallel processing. This DSM topology facilitates the designs of wideband software defined radio transmitters and delta–sigma radio-over-fiber transmitters. Experimental results of the FPGA implementation show that the proposed low-pass DSM can operate at 21 GS/s, providing 520-MHz baseband bandwidth with 42.76-dB signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) or 1.1-GHz bandwidth with 32.04-dB SNDR (based on continuous wave measurements). An all-digital transmitter based on this topology can generate 218.75MBd 256 QAM over 200-m OM4 multimode fiber in real time, with 7-GS/s sampling rate and an error vector magnitude below 1.89%.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8608810/file/8627175.pdf

A 21-GS/s Single-Bit Second-Order Delta–Sigma Modulator for FPGAs

ATTO targets wireless networking at fiber speed: 100 Gb/s/m2 with latencies smaller than 10 μs. To provide this tremendous wireless capacity, ultrasmall floor-integrated cells are proposed. In this way, short-reach communication can be established, reducing the effect of interference and providing full frequency reuse in the wireless domain. Radio frequency (RF)-over-fiber coherent communication and a dedicated 2-D passive optical network structure support the interconnection and selection of the cells and minimize the required transceiver electronics. To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed architecture, key principles are validated at lower frequency bands. Two main building blocks are addressed in this paper: a fully passive opto-antenna to prove that a passive remote antenna head can be realized owing to the short transmission distances. Furthermore, a low-cost RF-over-fiber system is demonstrated: sigma–delta modulation drives nonlinear optical modulators, such as electroabsorption modulators and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, using a digital transmitter while remaining compatible with the passive opto-antenna. Finally, two important properties of the ATTO floor are evaluated. The exposure of a human body model to RF fields by the antenna floor is evaluated. Measurements ensure a 200-fold margin with respect to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection basic restriction. To guarantee that multiple devices can communicate with the ATTO floor simultaneously, the interference between cells spaced 300 mm apart was evaluated.

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ATTO: Wireless Networking at Fiber Speed

To provide a tremendous wireless capacity (100Gbps/m2) and latencies <10μs, ultra-small floor-integrated cells are proposed. RF-over-fiber, coherent communication and a dedicated 2D PON structure support the interconnection and selection of the cells and allow to minimize the required transceiver electronics.

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Haolin Li

Papers

Real-Time 100-GS/s Sigma-Delta Modulator for All-Digital Radio-Over-Fiber Transmission

Self-Interference Cancellation Enabling High-Throughput Short-Reach Wireless Full-Duplex Communication

A 21-GS/s Single-Bit Second-Order Delta–Sigma Modulator for FPGAs

ATTO: Wireless Networking at Fiber Speed

ATTO: Wireless Networking at Fiber Speed