Analysis of optical carrier-to-sideband ratio for improving transmission performance in fiber-radio links

In this paper, we investigate the optimum carrier-to-sideband ratio (CSR) for maximizing the transmission performance of an optically modulated millimeter-wave signal in a fiber-wireless system via experiment, theory, and simulation. We present a simple analytical model to assess the performance enhancement resulting from optical CSR variations. The model is capable of analyzing systems incorporating binary phase-shift keyed and quaternary phase-shift keyed modulation formats. We quantify the optical CSR of a point-to-point fiber-radio link and establish that the performance of the fiber-wireless links can be significantly improved when the optical signal is transmitted at the optimum CSR of 0 dB. The analysis further shows that the optimum optical CSR is independent of transmission bit rates.