Wireless signals transport schemes in fiber wireless systems

Next generation (NG) technologies are proposed to provide high data rate, broadband multiple services, scalable bandwidth, and flexible communication for manifold wireless end-users (WEDs). The fiber-wireless (FiWi) network is a promising network for the NG technologies, since it is a powerful combination of optical backhaul and wireless front-end. The optical backhaul of the FiWi network is a tree network connecting the central office (CO) and wireless front-end. The wireless front-end consists of access points (APs) which are widespread to penetrate multiple WEDs. There are two main schemes to transmit the wireless signals in the FiWi system: (1) baseband-over-fiber (BBOF) transmission scheme, (2) radio over fiber (ROF) transmission scheme. This paper will review and discuss the concept and architecture of the FiWi system. This review is important to report the architectures, advantages, disadvantages, and the main parameters of these transmission schemes.