Demonstration of radio-over-fiber-supported 60 GHz MIMO using separate antenna-pair processing

Coverage at millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies is a constraining bottleneck. Spatial diversity and spatial multiplexing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) improve performance over a spread of user locations and these can benefit from wider antenna spacing. Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) transport provides flexibility in deploying a number of widely-spaced Remote Antenna Units (RAUs) connected to the same Central Unit (CU). Hence, mmW systems with an integrated analog RoF fronthaul are strong candidates for use in future 5G networks. An approach to measure channel coefficients individually for MIMO processing has been demonstrated in a RoF transported 2×2 MIMO system at 60 GHz. Experimental results verify this approach through real 2×2 experiments.