Study of millimetre-wave generation based on optical frequency multiplication

To meet the increasing capacity and mobility as well as decrease the costs in next-generation optical access networks, RoF technology is a promising technique in the emerging optical and wireless convergence network, mm-wave generation is a key technique to realize the convergence network. In this paper, existing optical mm-wave generation technologies are introduced, including direct modulation, optical heterodyning and external modulation. Associated with Shanghai University, a scheme based on Optical Frequency Multiplication employing a dual drive Mach-Zehnder Modulator (DD-MZM) is presented. The novel efficient technique does not require expensive high-frequency electrical equipment. Moreover, no optical filtering is used, which significantly reduces the cost.