Experimental evaluation of optimum modulation formats for pico-cellular access networks based on resonant tunneling diodes

Pico-cell based access networks are increasingly seen as a promising solution for the growing mobility and bandwidth user demands. A recently developed resonant tunneling diode oscillator integrated with a photodetector and a laser diode (RTD-PD-LD), is being considered as a viable low cost pico-cell solution for radio-over-fiber based distributed antenna systems. In this paper we experimentally evaluate both the uplink and downlink error vector magnitude performance of the RTD-PD-LD for different phase and frequency modulation formats. We conclude that frequency modulated formats achieve better performance in both uplink and downlink configurations, yet, Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying format also appears to be a practical alternative.