Experimental evaluation of real-time sigma-delta radio over fiber system for fronthaul applications

Sigma-delta radio over fiber (ΣΔ-RoF) is an expedient technology for next-generation networks including 5G cloud/centralized radio access networks (C-RAN). In this article, we demonstrate a realistic experimental scenario for ΣΔ-RoF link targeting C-RAN fronthaul applications, by using baseband second-order 1-bit sigma-delta modulation (ΣΔ-M). The experimental set-up validates the LTE 20 MHz signals having modulation order of 256-quadrature amplitude modulation for a carrier frequency of 3 GHz, up to 10 km of standard single mode fiber. A detailed analysis of the ΣΔ-RoF system performance is reported by adjacent channel leakage ratio and error vector magnitude. Furthermore, an experimental study is evaluated where ΣΔ-RoF is compared with its counterparts. It is deduced that ΣΔ-RoF corroborates the present range of C-RAN fronthaul networks and can be a promising candidate for future mobile haul applications.