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Radio over fiber and DAS

The intention of the MEANS project is to use Radio over Fiber (RoF) [1] to transparently transport a variety of radio signals amongst different locations within a building. This entails radio signals form different sources being converted to the optical domain, transported and distributed, and finally converted back to the electrical domain at their destination. This concept results in a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source, implementing what is technically known as a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) [2]. In a DAS, the transmission power is distributed amongst several spatially separated antenna elements, covering the same geographic area, as shown in Figure 1. Depending on the implementation, a DAS may use only passive elements, or include amplifiers. They may use coaxial cables, optical fibers, or a combination of both, as the transmission medium.

Centralized antenna
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Distributed antenna
Figure 1: Basic principle of a distributed antenna system

DAS are often used as an effective way to improve coverage of cellular and public safety services in buildings such as hospitals, airports, shopping centers, office buildings, etc. Figure 2 shows a typical DAS system for such an environment [2][4]. As shown, it uses a repeater on top of the building to retrieve the cellular and/or public safety signals. Then the signals are amplified and rebroadcast internally via internal antennas. A DAS is also attractive in hospitals because it substantially lowers the transmission power level of the mobile devices, reducing the risks for interference with medical equipment. An