Investigation and design of a high-speed optical system using millimeter waves

Abstract

Radio over Multi-Modes Fiber-Free Space Optics (RoMMF-FSO) represents a promising hybrid communication approach that merges the high bandwidth capabilities of optical wireless links with the adaptability of radio frequency technologies, such as MilliMeter Waves (MMWs). This study evaluates the performance of the proposed system using the RoMMF-FSO link under diverse Atmospheric Turbulence (AT) conditions, specifically weak, moderate, and strong, with different levels (light, medium, and heavy) of Weather Conditions (WCs) employing the OptiSystem simulation platform. However, different levels of weather-related attenuation are tested, and a wide range of transmission distances are applied to evaluate key performance metrics, including Bit Error Rate (BER), Quality Factor (Q-Factor), and Communication Capacity (CC). Another important part of the analysis is how increasing the transmitted optical power affects the stability and resilience of the system. The simulation of the obtained results shows that increasing the optical transmission power, especially in weak AT scenarios, significantly improves the proposed system's performance for longer transmission distances. Although, extreme WCs, such as dense fog and heavy rain, continue to degrade transmission quality. On the other hand, when using the moderate and strong ATs, the proposed system's performance operates with only lower optical transmission power for shorter transmission distances, given the same WCs, due to the higher frequencies within the MMW bands. These results confirm that RoMMF-FSO links are viable for future 5G wireless networks and beyond, especially for last-mile connectivity networks under adverse environmental conditions.