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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF THESIS / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT PAPER AND COPYRIGHT

Author’s full name : LIM SWEE MEI_______________________________________________

Date of birth : 4TH NOVEMBER1988

Title : MIMO-OFDM OPTICAL BACKHAUL BACKUP USING WLAN 802.11N

Academic Session : 2011/2012

I declare that this thesis is classified as :

CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret

Act 1972)*

RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organization

where research was done)*

√ OPEN ACCESS I agree that my thesis to be published as online open access (full text)

I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows:

1. The thesis is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

2. The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for the purpose of research
only.
3. The Library has the right to make copies of the thesis for academic exchange.

Certified by :

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR

881104-08-5188 ASSOC. PROF. DR. RAZALI NGAH

(NEW IC NO. /PASSPORT NO.) NAME OF SUPERVISOR

Date : JULY 2012 Date : JULY 2012

NOTES : * If the thesis is CONFIDENTAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from
the organization with period and reasons for confidentiality or restriction.
 “I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my
opinion this thesis is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the
award of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering
(Electrical-Telecommunications)”

Signature : …………………………………….
Supervisor’s Name : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Razali Ngah
Date : 6 JULY 2009
MIMO-OFDM OPTICAL BACKHAUL BACKUP SYSTEM USING WLAN
802.11n

LIM SWEE MEI

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Engineering
(Electrical-Telecommunications)

Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

JULY 2012
 ii

I declare that this thesis entitled “MIMO-OFDM Optical Backhaul Backup System
Using WLAN 802.11n” is the result of my own research except as cited in the
references. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently
submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature: …………….........................
Name : LIM SWEE MEI
Date : 6 July 2012
 iii

Specially dedicated to
My beloved family, friends and lecturers who have
inspired, guided and encouraged me throughout my journey of education.
Thank you for the supports and motivation given to me.
 iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to deliver my sincere thanks to my supervisor, A.P. Dr.

Razali Ngah for his supports, helps and guidance throughout this project. His helpful
advices always inspire me to solve the problems during the development of this
project and help me to complete this project in time. Not forget, great appreciation to
Mr. Teguh Prakoso, Miss Wani, and Miss Norliziani Zamuri who being patient in
sharing their knowledge in OptiSystem software.

Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved family who

always support me and encourage me throughout my life.

Last but not least, deep appreciation to my dear friends Tan Rong-Shyn, Tan
Ee Pin, Goh Li Ting, Low Yee Ling and Chin Siew Chian for helping me throughout
the journey in UTM. All the best for them and may our friendship last forever.
 v

ABSTRACT

The explosive growth in demand for higher capacity and higher speed for
internet has lead to the deployment of optical network in wired communication.
Optical fiber is well known for its many advantages compared to coaxial cables, such
as small in size and light in weight, better security and durability. However
unforeseeable breakdown of fiber optic system is inevitable. Three working days
normally are required to rectify the system. There are two solutions to overcome this
breakdown, which is implementation of optical mesh network and wireless point-to-
point communication system to backup optical networks. The former is least
favorable due to the astronomical cost of implementation and its unavailability in
Malaysia. The latter is much preferable because it is easy to be installed. This
project aims to simulate a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) optical backhaul backup system using
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11n. The integration of MIMO-OFDM
is beneficial because OFDM supports more antennas and offer larger bandwidths as
it simplifies equalization significantly in MIMO systems. MIMO-OFDM backhaul
system is simulated and analyzed using OptiSystem software.
 vi

ABSTRAK

Permintaan bagi kapasiti dan kelajuan yang lebih tinggi untuk internet telah
menawarkan penggunaan gentian optik dalam komunikasi berwayar. Gentian optik
terkenal dengan pelbagai kelebihannya berbanding dengan kabel sepaksi, seperti saiz
yang kecil dan ringan, sekuriti yang lebih baik, dan tahan lasak. Walau
bagaimanapun, kerosakan yang tidak dapat diramalkan tidak dapat dielakkan. Tiga
hari kerja diperlukan untuk membaiki kerosakkan tersebut. Dua cara yang dapat
mengatasi kerosakan tersebut ialah dengan membina jejaring rangkaian optikal dan
sistem komunikasi wayarles titik ke titik. Pembinaan jejaring rangkaian optikal
kurang digemari disebabkan kos yang mahal diperlukan dan cara ini belum
dilaksanakan di Malaysia. Sistem komunikasi wayarles titik ke titik lebih digemari
kerana ia senang dipasang. Projek ini bertujuan untuk mensimulasikan input
berbilang output berbilang Pemultipleksan pembahagian frekuensi ortogon (MIMO-
OFDM) sebagai gantian bagi rangkaian tulang belakang optic dengan menggunakan
Rangkaian Kawasan Tempatan Wayarles (WLAN) 802.11n. Gabungan MIMO-
OFDM adalah bermanfaat disebabkan OFDM menyokong berbilang antenna dan
menawarkan lebar jalur yang lebih besar sedangkan OFDM meringkaskan persamaan
dalam sistem MIMO. MIMO-OFDM sebagai gantian bagi sistem rangkaian tulang
belakang disimulasi dan dianalisasi dengan menggunakan perisian OptiSystem.
 vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

TITLE PAGE i
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
ABSTRAK vi
TABLE OF CONTENT vii
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF SYMBOLS xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION xiv

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 Objective 3
1.4 Scope of Work 3
1.5 Thesis Overview 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 Optical Network 5
2.3 Evolution of Optical Network 6
 viii

2.4 Principle Operation of Optical Network 7

2.5 Advantages of Optical Network 8
2.6 IEEE 802.11n 10
2.6.1 The difference between 802.11n and
current generations of Wi-Fi 10
2.6.2 Advantages of IEEE 802.11n 11
2.7 OptiSystem Software 11

CHAPTER 3 MULTIPLE-INPUT MULTIPLE-OUTPUT 13

ORTHOGONAL FREQUENCY DIVISION
MULTIPLEXING
3.1 Introduction 13
3.2 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) 14
3.2.1 Operating Principle 14
3.2.2 Challenges in MIMO Design 16
3.3 Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing
(OFDM) 16
3.3.1 History of OFDM 17
3.3.2 Why OFDM 18
3.3.3 OFDM Concept 19
3.3.4 Operating Principle 22
3.4 Radio Access Unit 23
3.4.1 Electroabsorption Modulator (EAM) 23
3.5 Photonic Antenna 24
3.5.1 Current Research in Photonic Antenna 25
3.5.2 Photonic Antenna Design 26
3.5.3 Photonic Antenna Concept 28

CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 31

4.1 Introduction 31
4.2 Methodology 31
 ix

4.3 Generating Optical Transmitter 34

4.4 MIMO Transmitter 36
4.5 Wireless Channel 37
4.5 MIMO Receiver 38

CHAPTER 5 RESULT AND DISCUSSION 40

5.1 Introduction 40
5.2 Optical Transmitter 40
5.3 MIMO Transmitter and Wireless Channel 44
5.4 MIMO Receiver 48

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORKS 54

6.1 Conclusion 54
6.2 Future Works 55

REFERENCES 56
 x

LISTS OF TABLES

TABLES TITLE PAGE

5.1 S2P values for transmitting antenna

(Prakoso, Ngah, Rahman, & Mualif,
December 2008) 46
5.2 S2P values for receiving antenna
(Prakoso, Ngah, Rahman, & Mualif,
December 2008)
48
 xi

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES TITLE PAGE

1.1 Breakdown of fiber optics in optical backhaul

network 3
2.1 Block Diagram of Optical Network 7
3.1 Block Diagram of MIMO system 15
3.2 Orthogonal multicarrier versus conventional
multicarrier (Li & Stuber, 2005) 20
3.3 Spectra of OFDM individual subcarrier (Li &
Stuber, 2005) 21
3.4 Spectra of OFDM symbol (Li & Stuber, 2005) 22
3.5 Block Diagram of OFDM 23
3.6 Block Diagram of Photonic Antenna for Uplink 26
3.7 Block Diagram of Photonic Antenna for Downlink 27
3.8 Individual Antenna 27
3.9 Microstrip Antenna (Array of Two Antenna) 28
3.10 Concept of photonic antennas for radio
transmission 29
4.1 Block diagram of (a) transmitting and (b) receiving
part of the project 32
4.2 Simulation module of the project 33
4.3 Global parameters setting 34
4.4 Optical Transmitter 35
4.5 OFDM Modulator parameters setting 36
 xii

4.6 MIMO Transmitter 37

4.7 Wireless Channel 38
4.8 MIMO Receiver 39
5.1 Input constellation diagram 41
5.2 RF spectrum after modulated by Quadrature
Modulator at 5.8GHz 42
5.3 Optical spectrum after optical modulation 43
5.4 Amplified optical signal 44
5.5 RF spectrum after optical demodulation 45
5.6 RF signal spectrum after radiated with a high gain
Microstrip patch antenna 46
5.7 Multipath propagation in free space 48
5.8 RF signal spectrum after received by a high gain
Microstrip patch antenna 49
5.9 RF signal spectrum after Electrical Adder 50
5.10 Modulated optical output before transmitting back
into fiber optic 51
5.11 Output Constellation Diagram for data rates of
130Mbps 52
5.12 Output Constellation Diagram for data rates of
300Mbps 52
5.13 Output Constellation Diagram for data rates of
600Mbps 53
 xiii

LIST OF SYMBOLS

- Height of transmitting antennas

- Height of receiving antennas
- Distance between transmitting and receiving antennas
S11 - S2P values from port 1 to port 1
S21 - S2P values from port 1 to port 2
S12 - S2P values from port 2 to port 1
S22 - S2P values from port 2 to port 2
∠ S11 - Phase of S11
∠ S21 - Phase of S21
∠ S12 - Phase of S12
∠ S22 - Phase of S22
Gp - Power gain
 xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

MIMO - Multiple-Input Multiple-Output

OFDM - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
MZ - Mach Zehnder
RF - Radio Frequency
PEPL - Plane Earth Path Loss
LOS - Line of Sight
QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
BPF - Band Pass Filter
EM - Electromagnetic
QPSK - Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
BPSK - Binary Phase Shift Keying
PRBS - Pseudorandom Bit Sequence
FFT - Fourier Transform
MSA - Active Integrated Antennas
MMF - Multimode Fiber
SMF - Single Mode Fiber
POF - Polymer Optical Fiber
HGAphA - High Speed Active Photonic Antenna
CS - Central Station
 xv

RAU - Radio Access Unit

EAM - Electroabsorption Modulator
IFFT - Inverse Fourier Transform
CP - Cyclic Prefix
ICI - Intercarrier Interference
HDSL - High Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line
DFT - Discrete Fourier Transform
ISI - Intersymbol Interference
QoS - Quality of Service
RFI - Radio Frequency Interference
EMI - Electromagnetic Interference
MAC - Medium Access Control
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Wireless communication is very important because it provides multimodal

communication from everywhere with the suitable infrastructure [1]. The limitation
is its capacity, coverage and speed. However, the growing demand of the capacity
and speed of Internet lead to the improvement of technology on communication
capacity and speed.

On the other hand, optical network are a network with high-capacity and high
speed based on the optical technologies and components. Optical network as a high-
capacity and high-speed telecommunication network had become one of the main
pillars of modern telecommunications network.

Comparing the advantages of optical networks over wireless communication,

it should be no doubt that optical networks become more popular among the
consumers [2]. However, the ease and flexibility of wireless communication is
something unachievable by optical network. Hence, engineers and scientists are
 2

working hard on improving the capacity and speed of wireless communication to

achieve a win-win situation.

In order to improve the capacity and speed of the wireless communication,

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing
(MIMO-OFDM) has been introduced. OFDM is a modulation method that can
mitigate multipath and offers intersymbol interference (ISI) free. On the other hand
spatial diversity is exploited by MIMO by having more than one transmit and receive
antennas. MIMO-OFDM is a good combination which offers larger bandwidth and
as well improving the throughput significantly.

This project mainly focuses on simulating a MIMO-OFDM optical backhaul

backup system using Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11n.

1.2 Problem Statement

The problem statement of this project is about the backup system of an

optical backhaul network. In recent years, optical network has evolved dramatically
to fulfill the needs of high capacity and high speed demand on communications. The
small form factor of fiber optics gives superior durability compared to other cables
such as coaxial cable. However, there is still possibility that the optical network
could break down. Figures 1.1 shows the breakdown of a fiber optic in optical
network. Practically, it is estimated at least three working days needed to repair the
breakdown. Therefore, a backup system will be needed in order to make sure the
communication networks can still work.
 3

Break Down

Source Transmitter Receiver User

Fiber optic cable

Figure 1.1: Breakdown of fiber optics in optical backhaul network

1.3 Objective

The objective of this project is to simulate a MIMO-OFDM optical backhaul

backup system using WLAN 802.11n. MIMO-OFDM is a combination technique
that improves the capacity and speed of wireless communication. Through this
simulation, the performance of MIMO-OFDM using WLAN 802.11n is being
investigated in order to make sure it can be a temporary backup system with high
capacity and speed when the optical network is broke down.

1.4 Scope of Work

This project mainly focuses on the simulation of MIMO-OFDM wireless

communication using OptiSystem software. This project has three major scopes.
The project will include the study on the implementation of optical backhaul backup
system using wireless point-to-point communication. Furthermore, this project
simulates the backup system using OptiSystem software. MIMO-OFDM techniques
also will be implemented in this backup system.
 4

1.5 Thesis Overview

This thesis is organized into six chapters. They are Introduction, Literature
Review, MIMO-OFDM, Methodology, Result and Discussion and last but not least
the Conclusion and Future Works.

Chapter 1 discusses the overview of the project which generally introducing

optical network, wireless communications, MIMO and OFDM. An overview of the
objectives, scope of work, problem statement, research background and organization
of the project are also covered in this chapter.

Chapter 2 mainly explains the literature review of this project. First, the
introduction of optical network including its evolution, principle operation and
advantages are presented. Then Chapter 2 also covers introduction on IEEE 802.11n,
its differences with current generation of Wi-Fi and its advantages. In this part,
OptiSystem software and its advantages are being discussed.

Chapter 3 covers the introduction of MIMO-OFDM in wireless point-to-point

communication. In addition, the principles operation of MIMO and OFDM
technique are covered in this chapter. Their advantages also included in this chapter.
Furthermore, Radio Access Unit (RAU) and photonic antenna are discussed in this
chapter as well.

Chapter 4 mainly explains about the methodology used in the simulation of

this project. This chapter covers the Optical Transmitter, MIMO-OFDM Transmitter,
Wireless Channel and MIMO-OFDM Receiver.

Chapter 5 shows the result obtained from the simulation. The results will be
discuss and analyzed in this chapter.

Lastly, Conclusion and Future Works concludes the project by briefly

discussing the main idea of this project and the future works that can be explored to
improve the project.
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

As the demand of bandwidth is increasingly important in the network,

network providers are moving a big step in network evolution which is the optical
network. This chapter presents the literature review of optical network, IEEE
802.11n and OptiSystem software.

2.2 Optical Network

Optical networks are high-capacity telecommunications networks based on

optical technologies and components that can provide routing, grooming, and
restoration at the wavelength level as well as wavelength-based services.

The optical layer emergence in transport networks provides significantly

higher capacity bandwidth [3]. Optical networks had also reduced costs for some
new technologies and applications such as the Internet, video and multimedia
interaction, and advanced digital services [4].
 6

High demand of capacity also brings improvement on wireless

communication. Currently, WLAN is operating at unlicensed Industrial, Scientific
and Medical (ISM) bands which are 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Many researches in wireless
systems have been conducted to improve the capacity of wireless network in order to
meet the explosive growth in demand of capacity. These researches may deliver
Gigabit Ethernet in the radio frequency range above 10GHz [5].

To be an alternative for high-speed high-capacity optical network, the speed

and capacity of wireless communication needed to be improved. Thus, this
necessary improvement has lead to the combination of MIMO and OFDM. MIMO-
OFDM is a very natural and beneficial combination due to OFDM supports multiple
antennas and larger bandwidths. Furthermore, OFDM simplifies the equalization
significantly in MIMO systems.

2.3 Evolution of Optical Network

Networks providers extend fiber deeper into the access network to fulfill the
higher bandwidth demands of consumers. The high bandwidth requirements are
increasingly exhausting the capabilities of copper infrastructures in the existing
access network. There are challenges to convert copper to fiber, especially in the
central offices, data centers, head-ends, and mobile switching centers. Copper to
fiber conversions necessitates higher-density fiber terminations resulting in more
fiber connected to the equipments. It is also a challenge to increase the applications
of fiber tie panel and fiber interconnection points in order to create a flexible,
reconfigurable network [6].

In the 1930s the awareness of current infrastructure deployment techniques is

insufficient for the service demand of future telephone usage has rise. At the time,
each connection needs a specific physical connection. Large physical networks were
implemented however it still could not support future demands.
 7

In fact, the digitization of the audio channel made multiplexing simpler and
easier. The involving of simple bit interleaving in early multiplexing techniques was
proved ineffective for dense multiplexing operations.

2.4 Principle Operation of Optical Network

The basic components of an optical communication system are shown in

Figure 2.1. A serial bit stream in electrical form from the source is presented to a
transmitter which included a modulator. Modulator encodes the data appropriately
for fiber transmission which the data is modulated into optical form. A light source,
laser or LED (Light Emitting Diode) is driven by the modulator. The light focused
into the fiber and travels down the fiber where it may experience dispersion and loss
of strength. At the receiver end, the light is received by a detector and converted to
electrical form. Then the signal is amplified and fed to another detector, which
needed to isolate the individual state timing and their changes. After that, it decodes
the state change sequences and then reconstructs the original bit stream. Then the
received timed bit stream may be fed to the using device.

Figure 2.1: Block Diagram of Optical Network

2.5 Advantages of Optical Network

 8

Optical network has many well-known advantages. One of them will be

small size and weight. The size of the fiber is very small which ranges from 10 µm
to 50 µm. The space occupied by the optical fiber cable is significantly smaller
compared to conventional electrical cable which is 10 mm. Besides, fiber optics is
light in weight. This makes them to use in aircrafts and satellites more effectively.

The second advantage of optical network is its cheap material cost. Fiber
cable costs are much more less than copper cable to have the same transmission
capacity.

The third advantage will be optical network provides better security. It is

possible but difficult to tap fiber optical cable. Besides, the additional loss caused by
the tap is can be easily detected. There will be an interruption to a running service
whenever the tap is inserted and by having this, security measures can be exerted. In
addition, by using optical network with less repeater and splices, there are fewer
access points where an intruder can access to a fiber cable by inserting a tap.

While the forth advantage of optical networks would be the enormous

bandwidths. The capacity of the information that carried by a transmission system is
directly proportional to transmitted signal carrier frequency. The radio frequency is
about 106 Hz whilst optical carrier frequency is in the range of 1014 Hz. Hence the
optical fibers have high data rate and large transmission bandwidth [7].

The fifth advantage is low transmission loss. A signal is attenuated when it

travels along a communication line. A repeater or an amplifier is the traditional
device to restore signal power, regenerating the signal and also eliminating the noise.
The usage of ultra low loss fibers and the erbium doped silica fibers as optical
amplifiers brings almost lossless transmission. Thus for long distance
communication fibers of 0.15dB/km, the repeater spacing is more than 100 km.

The sixth advantage of optical network is its immunity to cross talk. Since
fiber optics is dielectric waveguide, it is free from electromagnetic interference (EMI)
 9

and radio frequency interference (RFI) which results zero cross talk even a few of
fibers are cabled together.

Furthermore, the seventh advantage is fiber optics’ characteristics of having

electrical isolation. Optical fibers are electrical insulator because they are made from
silica. Thus they do not pick up electromagnetic wave and high current lightening
and suitable in explosive environment.

The eighth advantage of optical network is about signal security. The

transmitted signal through the fiber does not radiate and it cannot be drawn from a
fiber without tampering it. Thus, the fiber optic communication provides 100 %
security of signal.

In addition, the ninth advantage is the ruggedness and flexibility of fiber

optics. The fiber cable can be bended or twisted without easily damaging it.
Furthermore the fiber cables are superior compared to the copper cables in terms of
installation, handling, transportation, storage, maintenance, durability and strength.

Last but not least, the tenth advantage is the superior reliability of optical
network compare to any others current wired network. The fiber optics is made from
silica which does not undergo chemical reaction. External radiation does not affect
its. Due to its negligibly low attenuation and dispersion, fiber optics communication
has very high reliability. Besides, the above factors also effectively reduce the
maintenance cost.

2.6 IEEE 802.11n

 10

Wireless networking, also known as Wi-Fi which is using the 802.11 standard
has become popular and plays an important role in residential and corporate settings.
The existing standard which is 802.11g-2003 is keen to be inadequate as applications
due to its complexity and the need of larger bandwidth. IEEE 802.11n standards
offer much higher data rate, as measured at the medium access control (MAC) data
service access point (AP). The IEEE 802.11n standards will be providing
enhancements for physical layer and MAC [8].

The IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is a complementary

technology to high-speed Ethernet IEEE 802.3 for mobile and portable devices.
IEEE 802.11n-2009 is an amendment to the existing IEEE 802.11 wireless
networking standard in order to improve network data throughput of the two
previous standards which are 802.11a and 802.11g. IEEE 802.11n significantly
increases the maximum net data rate from previous 54 Mbps to 600 Mbps with the
utility of four spatial streams at a 40 MHz channel width.

2.6.1 The Difference between 802.11n and Current Generations of Wi-Fi

The 802.11n standard utilizes some new technologies as well amend the
existing technologies to improve the speed and range of Wi-Fi. One of the new
technologies Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) utilizes multiple antennas to
transmit and receive multiple data streams. Now, instead of sending or receiving just
a single stream of data, MIMO can transmit and receive multiple streams of data.
This improves the capacity of data to be transmitted in the same period and increase
the range of transmission.

A second technology being used into 802.11n is Orthogonal Frequency-

Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which encode digital data on multiple carrier
frequencies. A broadband channel is divided into many parallel orthogonal
narrowband sub-carriers which are used to carry data. The data is then divided into
 11

many parallel channels, each for one sub-carrier. Thus, it can effectively eliminate
intersymbol interference (ISI).

2.6.2 Advantages of IEEE 802.11n

The advantages of IEEE 802.11n are its notable increases of speed and range.
IEEE 802.11g products had a theoretical maximum net data rate of 54Mbps, but only
provide data rate of 22 Mbps to 24 Mbps practically. On the other hand, Intel Corp.
announces the truth of seeing real-world speeds of 100Mbps to 140Mbps for 802.11n
products. Those results were validated in a Computerworld roundup review of
several Wi-Fi products according to Draft 2 of the IEEE 802.11n standard.

It is difficult to justify the improvement on range because it is affected by a

lot of variables for example like obstacles between transmitter and receiver that
could have blocked the transmitted signal. However, Intel Corp. says that 802.11n
products normally transmits more than twice the range of 802.11g products, even at
any given data rate.

2.7 OptiSystem Software

OptiSystem is a comprehensive software design suite that users can plan, test,
and also run the optical links simulation in the transmission layer of a modern optical
network.

OptiSystem can maximize time effectiveness and reduce cost. It also visually
presents scenarios and analysis, and offers planning for component to system level.
Optisystem takes advantage on its integration with other design tools of industry
automation software and Optiwave products. It speeds users’ product to market and
as well directly reduces the payback period [9].
 12

There are some advantages of Optisystem which make it become a useful

software design suite. One of them is its integration with the other Optiwave
products. OptiSystem also offers global insight into system performance.

In addition, OptiSystem provides visually displays design options and

scenarios to users. OptiSystem also provides the sensitivities of assessed parameter
aid design tolerance specifications.

Furthermore, system characterization data can be accessed directly also one

of the pros of OptiSystem. Last but not least, OptiSystem offers automatic
optimization and parameter sweep as well. However, OFDM modulation only
support by OptiSystem version 9 and above.
 CHAPTER 3

MULTIPLE-INPUT MULTIPLE-OUTPUT ORTHOGONAL FREQUENCY

DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

3.1 Introduction

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is one of the popular

methods for high throughput wireless communications. OFDM may be combined
with transmitting and receiving antenna arrays to improve the gain of diversity as
well to enhance the capacity of the communication system on frequency-selective
and time-variant channels, which eventually resulting in a configuration of multiple-
input multiple-output (MIMO) [10]. The MIMO OFDM system is a parallel of
single-input single-output (SISO) OFDM. The combination of MIMO signal
processing with OFDM is a convincing solution to improve the throughput in time-
variant and frequency-selective fading environments of next-generation wireless
communication systems [11]. This chapter presents the overview of MIMO, OFDM,
Radio Access Unit (RAU) and photonic access point.
 14

3.2 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO)

MIMO techniques are practicable and capable of maximizing the channel

capacity spatially multiplexes the data substreams along the eigenmodes of the
channel matrix. OFDM subcarriers are orthogonal to each other, thus the
eigenmodes of the N subcarriers are mutually orthogonal and the multiplexing
technique can be performed in the space-frequency domain, e.g. discrete matrix
multitone (DMMT) [9].

Use of multiple antennas at both ends of wireless links is the result of the
natural progression of more than four decades of evolution of adaptive technology.
Recent advances have demonstrated that MIMO wireless systems can achieve
impressive increases in overall system performance. The potential to provide the
next major leap forward for wireless communications has led this technology to
becoming the next frontier of wireless communications. As a result, it has received
the attention not only of the international R&D community, but also of the wireless
communications industry. This is evidenced from the international standardization
efforts in the context of UMTS and IEEE 802.11 and also in the context of proposals
for next generation wireless systems.

3.2.1 Operating Principle

There are many schemes employ the use of multiple antennas at the
transmitter and receiver due to the need to increase the range and improve the
performance of wireless communication systems. So far the most successful
multiple antenna technology today is that so called MIMO system. MIMO systems
utilize multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver as shown in Figure 3.1.
MIMO transmits multiple unique data streams in the same channel at the same period
of time as the system achieves better data rate per channel.
 15

Figure 3.1: Block Diagram of MIMO system

MIMO operating systems divide a data stream into multiple unique data
streams, each of these is transmitted and modulated at the same period of time using
the same frequency channel but through different radio-antenna. By taking
advantage of reflections of signal and multipath, each MIMO receive antenna-radio
chain is a linear combination of the multiple transmitted unique data streams.

The data streams will be separated at the receiver by using MIMO algorithms
which rely on the estimations of all channels between each transmitter and receiver.

Each multipath route can be considered as a single channel. They create

several "virtual wires" to transmit signal. MIMO utilizes multiple spatial separated
antennas to take advantage on these "virtual wires". Other than improving
throughput, range is increased as well because each receiving antenna has a copy of
each transmitted unique data stream.

With the use of MIMO, the maximum throughput per channel directly
proportional to the number of different data streams that is transmitted in the same
channel.
 16

3.2.2 Challenges in MIMO Design

MIMO systems give better performance with expenses of higher power

consumption and cost. Competitive markets contribute tolerable cost, while thermal
and battery life limits the tolerable power consumption in mobile non-wired devices.

Furthermore, the issues of mixed signal which including cross talk and
coupling become critical in integrated high performance wireless systems because it
co-locates the digital circuitry with the analog RF electronics. Lastly, the request for
ultra-low cost solutions leads to extra systems-level integration of CPUs and as well
other peripherals.

3.3 Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

OFDM is a popular modulation scheme that is used in WLAN standards.

Also, it is used in the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) standard, in
which it is known as Discrete Multitone modulation. OFDM divides a broadband
channel into many parallel orthogonal narrowband sub-carriers which are used to
carry data. This makes it becomes very effective for transmitting in multipath
wireless channels. The utility of an FFT and IFFT pair in modulation and
demodulation make its implementation efficient as well.

Since few years ago, there has been a significant increase to extend the
services available on wired telecommunications networks to mobile wireless
telecommunications users. Currently, there are only low-bit-rate data services
available for mobile users other than voice services. Wired networks are unable to
support extension to non-wired mobile networks due to the fact that mobile radio
channels are more contaminated than wired data-transmission channels. The high
Quality of Services (QoS) required in wired networks can be preserved as well.
 17

3.3.1 History of OFDM

OFDM is a special case of multicarrier transmission, where a single data

stream is transmitted over a number of lower-rate subcarriers. It is worth mentioning
here that OFDM can be seen as either a modulation technique or a multiplexing
technique. One of the main reasons to use OFDM is to increase robustness against
frequency-selective fading or narrowband interference. In a single-carrier system, a
single fade or interferer can cause the entire link to fail, but in a multicarrier system,
only a small percentage of the subcarriers will be affected. Error-correction coding
can then be used to correct for the new erroneous subcarriers. The concept of using
parallel-data transmission and frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) was
developed in the mid-1960s. Some early development is traced back to the 1940s. A
United State patent was filed and issued in January 1970.

Much of the researches focus on the highly efficient multicarrier transmission

scheme based on “orthogonal frequency” carriers. In 1971, Weinstein and Ebert
applied the discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) to parallel-data-transmission systems
as part of the modulation and demodulation process.

In the 1960s, the OFDM technique was used in several high-frequency

military systems such as KINELEX, ANDEFT, and KATHRYN. For example, the
variable-rate data modem in KATHRYN was built for the high-frequency band. It
used up to 34 parallel low-rate phase-modulated channels with a spacing of 82 Hz.

In the 1980s, OFDM was studied for high-speed modems, digital mobile
communications, and high-density recording. One of the systems realized the
OFDM techniques for multiplexed quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) using
DFT. By using pilot tone, stabilizing carrier and clock frequency control and trellis
coding could also be implemented. Moreover, various-speed modems were
developed for telephone networks.

In the 1990s, OFDM was exploited for wideband data communications over
mobile radio FM channels, high bit-rate digital subscriber lines (HDSL), asymmetric
 18

digital subscriber lines (ADSL), very-high-speed digital subscriber lines (VDSL),

digital audio broadcasting (DAB), and high definition television (HDTV) terrestrial
broadcasting.

3.3.2 Why OFDM

The portable radio channel is characterized by multiple routes of reception:

the signal transmitted to the receiver contains a direct line-of-sight (LOS) radio wave
and an enormous number of reflected radio waves that accepted by the receiver at
different period of times. Delayed signals are the result from the reflections of radio
waves from terrain features for example like trees, mountains, hills, vehicles, and
buildings. These delayed and reflected waves interfere with the direct radio wave
and may cause intersymbol interference (ISI), which will significant degradation of
network performance. A non-wired network should be designed to minimize these
adverse effects.

It is needed to use high-throughput transmission (with unit of Mbps) to create

broadband multimedia portable communication systems. However, the delay time of
the delayed radio waves is greater than 1 symbol time if a digital data is sent at high
data rate. One of the methods to equalize these signals is utilizing adaptive
equalization techniques at the receiver. There are some practical difficulties when
operating this equalization at high data rate especially using compact and low-cost
hardware.

Thus, OFDM is one of the applications using parallel-data-transmission

scheme to reduce the impact of multipath fading and eliminates the needs of complex
equalizers.

Moreover, OFDM makes single-frequency networks possible; this is useful

for broadcasting applications.
 19

In addition, in a relatively slow time-varying channel, it is reasonable to

significantly improve capacity by adapting the throughput per subcarrier based on the
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of that subcarrier.

3.3.3 OFDM Concept

The fundamental principle of the OFDM system is to decompose the high

rate of data stream (W) into a high value (N) lower rate of data streams and to
transmit them simultaneously over many subcarriers. A significantly large value of
N results in narrow individual bandwidth (W/N) of subcarriers which is narrower
than the coherence bandwidth of the channel. The individual subcarrier is orthogonal
to each other, which overlapping of subcarriers do not cause problem as the
orthogonality always enables the subcarriers separation at the receiver end. This
gives a better spectral efficiency.

Figure 3.2 shows the difference between overlapping multicarrier technique

which is OFDM and conventional nonoverlapping multicarrier technique which is
Frequency Division Multiple Access.
 20

Figure 3.2: Orthogonal multicarrier versus conventional multicarrier [9].

The word orthogonal gives a mathematical relationship between subcarriers

in OFDM system. Orthogonality happens when two things vary independently,
uncorrelated and they are perpendicular. In a frequency division multiplex (FDM)
system, carriers are spaced apart from each other using such a way and the signals
can be received by using conventional demodulators or filters.

In addition, guard bands are introduced to be placed between carriers in

frequency domain to ensure the receiver receive signals without adjacent carrier
interference. However, this arrangement makes a reduction of the spectrum
efficiency. To arrange the sideband of the individual subcarrier overlaps but the
signals are received without adjacent carrier interference, the OFDM receiver is
constructed as a bank of demodulators. These demodulators will translate the
subcarriers down to dc and integrate over a symbol period to recover back the
transmitted signals.

The integration process will result in a zero inter carrier interference (ICI) if
all subcarriers can be downconverted to frequency in which have a round number of
 21

cycles in a symbol period T. All subcarriers can be made linearly independent or

perpendicular if the spacing of the carrier is a multiple of 1/T.

Figure 3.3 shows the spectrum of an individual subcarrier. The OFDM signal
multiplexes the individual spectra with the frequency spacing that equal to the
bandwidth of each subcarrier as shown in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Spectra of OFDM individual subcarrier [9].

Figure 3.4 shows the spectra of OFDM symbol. It clearly shows that there is
no cross talk with other channels at the center frequency of each of the subcarrier.
Thus, the transmitted data can be recovered without any cross talk through the
correlation that performed with the center frequency of each subcarrier. The
correlation is performed by the receiver.
 22

Figure 3.4: Spectra of OFDM symbol [9].

The orthogonality of each subcarrier is maintained by adding the cyclic prefix

(CP). The adding of CP is the last part of OFDM system, which useful in reducing
the ICI-related degradation.

3.3.4 Operating Principle

The operation of the OFDM system is shown in Figure 3.5. The input data
can be in different formats of modulations such as Binary Phase Shift Keying
(BPSK), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) and Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation (QAM). First of all, the input serial data stream is shifted into parallel
format. Then the data stream is transmitted in parallel format by assigning each
symbol to one carrier frequency in the transmission.

After mapping the spectrum, inverse Fourier transform (IFFT) is utilized to

obtain the corresponding time waveform. The cyclic prefix which also known as
guard period then will be added to the beginning of each symbol.
 23

Then, different interpolation techniques such as Step, Linear, and Cubic can
be used as the digital-to-analog converter. After the conversion of digital-to-analog,
the parallel data is then shifted back into the serial data stream.

Figure 3.5: Block Diagram of OFDM

3.4 Radio Access Unit

Increasing demand of Wireless local area network (WLAN) necessitates

higher capacity and higher speed of internet. Thus, the demand of the radio antenna
station gets smaller while more radio access unit (RAU) is utilized to provide
wireless coverage to a certain area. The main component of RAU is an optical to
electrical converter such as electroabsorption modulator (EAM) or photodetector.
(Hadow, April 2008)

3.4.1 Electroabsorption Modulator (EAM)

Electroabsorption modulator (EAM) is a semiconductor device that is utilized

to modulate the intensity of a laser beam by means of an electric voltage. The
principle of operation of EAM is based on Franz-Keldysh effect. Franz-Keldysh
effect is a change in the absorption spectrum which due to an applied electric field.
 24

The applied electric field changes the bandgap energy but normally excluded the
excitation of carriers by electric field.

The EAM is typically used in telecommunication for external modulation

links. EAM modulators can be realized using materials with multiple quantum dots
or bulk semiconductor materials.

The EAM usually has an optical wave guide to transport light from the input
fiber to the output fiber. An electric field is needed to modulate the intensity of the
output light. A direct radio-fiber media converter will be obtained if an electric field
is connected from an antenna to a EAM. Part of the input light is absorbed and part
of it is transmitted. This is depending on the electric field strength. When the input
light is absorbed in the EAM, it will generate an electric current that varies according
to the light signal intensity. In this case the EAM becomes a photo detector [12].

3.5 Photonic Antenna Design

A photonic antenna system is an organized multi-component arrangement in

which several chromophoric molecular species absorb the incident light and channel
the excitation energy to a common acceptor component. Photonic antennas are
invented to replace radio access unit (RAU) function [13].

The use of photonic-based antenna to feed, link, and control fulfill the needs
of very high performance antenna systems in order to perform high directional
wireless point-to-point communication. Firstly, the development of beam steering
and link techniques is the first application of photonic technology for an antenna
system.

However, recent technology mainly focused on producing new design of

antenna elements by using photonics. The utilizing of photonically controlled
materials and devices such as switches, photoconductive materials and reactive
 25

devices made it possible to produce revolutionary changes in antenna element and

phased array design as well as properties [14].

Photonically controlled devices do not need conducting lines running on them

to provide control signals. Instead, fiber optic cable is used to control the devices.
Photonically controlled devices enable users to remotely change the effective
characteristics for example like gain, bandwidth and tuning of an antenna aperture.
Thus, a new class of antennas has opened. Photonic antennas can combine high gain,
high bandwidth, conformability, and multi-functionality [15].

3.5.1 Current Research in Photonic Antenna

There are plenty of researches done on photonic antenna; two of them are the
research on high gain active photonic antenna for high speed backhaul link and
5.8GHz photonic antenna for point to point application. High speed active photonic
antenna (HGAphA) is a solution for long distance optical and wireless backhaul link.

To service long distance wireless communication, RF amplifier and high gain

RF antenna are integrated with photonic antenna concept. The using of simultaneous
multiple WLAN channels fulfilled the high speed feature of the photonic antenna
which can lead to more improvement on communication capacity and bandwidth.
Furthermore, the RF power amplifier and filter are integrated with optoelectronics
and antenna to construct an active photonic antenna.

For long distance communication, single mode fiber (SMF) system is used.
Polymer optical fiber (POF) and multi mode fiber (MMF) can only be employed for
short distance. Thus, both of them are not suitable for long distance although they
are cheaper in terms of price compare to SMF system.

For most of the existing concepts of photonic-controlled antennas [14],

questions about the technology of photoelectronic devices are seemingly critical. It
 26

is due to the need photoelectronic devices for specific image to react to the change of
the value of illuminance. Hence the majority part of operations is development and
learning of photoelectronic devices to satisfy certain needs [16].

3.5.2 Photonic Antenna Design

One central station (CS) can serve more than one radio access units (RAU).
There are antenna, filter, RF amplifier, and optoelectronics in a RAU. Photonic
antennas are invented to replace RAU function, but typically fabricated without RF
amplifier.

PIN diode, band pass filter (BPF) and antenna are integrated in photonic
antenna in downlink which is shown in Figure 3.6, while BPF and the antenna in
uplink are depicted in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.6: Block Diagram of Photonic Antenna for Uplink

 27

Figure 3.7: Block Diagram of Photonic Antenna for Downlink

One of the examples of high gain antenna which is high gain microstrip
antenna is used. The antenna is array of two antennas, which is shown in Figure 3.8
for individual antenna and Figure 3.9 for antenna array.

Figure 3.8: Individual Antenna [13]

 28

Figure 3.9: Microstrip Antenna (Array of Two Antenna) [13]

BPF is needed in the system to reject out-of-band emission especially when

the RF signal coexists with Fast Ethernet [13].

In the design of photonic antennas system, the photonic devices are utilized
as photoreceptions and phototransmission devices.

3.5.3 Photonic Antenna Concept

The concept of photonic antennas is almost the same with the concept of
integration of photonic devices with the microstrip antennas [14]. Besides, it is as
well the extension of a known concept which called as active integrated antennas
(AIA) [17]. In a basis of photonic antennas the idea of usage of photonic devices for
control in parameters of antennas is supposed.

In Figure 3.10, the concept of photonic active integrated antenna or in short

which is photonic antenna for radio transmission is shown.
 29

Figure 3.10: Concept of photonic antennas for radio transmission [16]

Typical conventional microwave antenna has a coaxial feeding line of

microstrip together with the microwave connector. The microwave power is
transmitted to and from the antenna by using RF cable.

Microstrip antennas (MSA) or patch antennas have simple structure. Planar

construction and presence of the dielectric substate on which horizontal plane the
conductor layer should be allocated is the first complicating factor. Research of the
allocation of currents on the conductor layer surface required much analysis and
modeling.

The first models of the MSA were simple. The modern MSA have set of
forms and configurations that can be analyzed, but cannot give an accurate
representation of it.

Elementary radiators MSA are characterized by some different operation

modes such as resonance and nonresonance, and their combinations. MSA have a
quantity of potentially power supply circuits such as a square-topped wave guide, the
coaxial cable, and a transmission strip line.

Microstrip antennas are always not included in section that devoted

distributed parameters to elements and to the section of aperture. On the other hand,
all its properties can be formulated from any point of view. Hence there is no doubt
that the microstrip patch is utilized as the microstrip antenna and as an element of the
microstrip lines [16].
 30

In the photonic antenna, the RF cable of microwave antenna is replaced by

fiber optic, thus it is needed to use optoelectronic components which are lasers and
photodiodes to convert microwave signal to the modulated optical signal or vice-
versa.

Photonic antenna can be hybrid or monolithic. Hybrid photonic antenna

consists of two parts which are conventional microwave antenna and fiber-optic
photodiode module. They are connected together by using microwave connectors.
While in the monolithic photonic antenna, the microwave antenna is integrated with
photodiode, and the photocurrent which is generated by photodiode excites directly
to the antenna.

One of the advantages of photonic monolithic antennas is its light weight and
small size because photonic antenna does not need metal RF cables and connectors.
It provides wide bandwidth, which only limited by the antenna itself. Besides, the
immunity of photonic antenna to electromagnetic interference is important especially
to the large antenna systems [18].

However, it should be highlighted that only transmitting photonic antenna can

be constructed by using photodiode due to the unilateral nature of optoelectronic
components. One of the main disadvantages of the using transmitting photonic
antenna is its relatively low output microwave power. Furthermore it is limited by
maximal photocurrent that generated by the photodiode. In which it is usually less
than 10mA. The other disadvantage of photonic antenna is optoelectronic
conversion loss. In certain cases, it can exceed 10 dB.
 CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 Introduction

This project involves simulation of MIMO-OFDM to establish a wireless

point to point communication link as a backup system for optical backhaul by using
OptiSystem software. Through the simulation of MIMO-OFDM, the performance of
constellation diagram is analyzed.

4.2 Methodology

The methodology of this project will be focused on transmitting part and

receiving part as shown in Figure 4.1. Part A shows the transmitting part of the
project. The electrical input signal from the source is converted to optical form in
order to be transmitted through fiber optics. This electrical-to-optical conversion
will be modulated by an electrical-optical modulator such as Mach-Zehnder
Modulator. In the circumstances of fiber optic breakdown, a photodetector will be
installed temporarily at the node right before breakdown point in order to convert the
 32

optical form signal to electrical form, so it can be modulated by MIMO-OFDM

modulator. After the conversion, the noise of electrical form signal will be filtered
out by Band-Pass Filer (BPF) before transmitted to MIMO-OFDM modulator. Low
Noise Amplifier (LNA) implementation before transmitting antennas is optional and
depends on the level of signal.

Input Signal
Received Signal

Electrical-Optical
Modulator Photodetector

Fiber optics Fiber optics

Photodetector Electrical-Optical
Modulator

BPF
BPF

MIMO-OFDM MIMO-OFDM
Modulator Demodulator

LNA LNA

(a) (b)

Figure 4.1: Block diagram of (a) transmitting and (b) receiving part of the project
 33

Part B shows the receiving part of the project. Low Noise Amplifier
(LNA) implementation after receiving antennas is optional and depends on the
level of signal. The receiving signal from the antenna is demodulated using
MIMO-OFDM Demodulator. A BPF is used to filter out the unwanted
harmonics signals. The demodulated receiving signal is converted to optical
signal using an Electrical-Optical Modulator before it transmitted back to the
original fiber optics. A photodetector is inserted to convert the optical signal to
electrical signal at the destination before received by the desired user.

Figure 4.2 shows the simulation module of this project. The simulation
module is mimics the block diagram of the project which consists of Optical
Transmitter, MIMO Transmitter, Wireless Channel and MIMO Receiver.

Figure 4.2: Simulation module of project

 34

4.3 Generating Optical Transmitter

The input data is generated by PRBS Generator. Figure 4.3 shows the setting
of global parameter. Bit rates and bit sequences can be set by accessing the setting.
In this project, 130Mbps, 300Mbps and 600Mbps is set to observe the differences for
different bit rates and the highest bit rate that can be achieved.

Figure 4.3: Global parameters setting

Figure 4.4 shows Optical transmitter in this project. Optical Transmitter

started by using a Pseudorandom Bit Sequence Generator to generate a set of random
bit sequence as the input signal. In this project, 64-Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation (QAM) format is used to map the converted signal. However, other
formats such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying (QPSK) also can be used. The mapped signal is processed by an OFDM
modulator. It is assumed that the OFDM is pre-installed in an optical network. The
 35

OFDM modulated signal will be modulated by Quadrature Modulator at 5.8GHz.

Then the 5.8GHz RF signal will be upconverted to 191.3THz optical frequency by a
LiNb MZ Modulator. The optical signal will be transmitted through an optical fiber
up to the breakdown point.

Figure 4.4: Optical Transmitter

Figure 4.5 shows the settings for OFDM modulator. In this project, the
number of subcarriers is set to 32 and number of FFT points is 64. Here the project
does not include the cyclic prefix which is set as symbol extension.
 36

Figure 4.5: OFDM Modulator parameters setting

4.4 MIMO Transmitter

In this project, MIMO is used to increase the performance of this backup

system in terms of data rates in order to make it compatible to optical network.
Figure 4.4 shows the MIMO Transmitter in this project. The MIMO Transmitter is
started with the downconvertion of optical signal back to RF signal. This is done by
Photodetector PIN by setting the centre frequency to 193.1THz.

The downconverted RF signal will be transmitted to free space by using two

transmitting antennas. These transmitting antennas are modeled by 2 Port S
Parameter block diagram.
 37

Figure 4.6: MIMO Transmitter

4.5 Wireless Channel

The downconverted RF signal is transmitting to receiving antenna through

free space. The communications through free space highly depends on the
transmitting medium’s atmosphere. Thus, the quality of a communication is relying
on some physical factors that always affect the propagation of electromagnetic (EM)
signal through this medium. One of the dominant factors that contribute to losses of
signal power in a communication is path loss. This loss relies on the distances
between transmitting and receiving antennas. Figure 4.5 shows the Wireless Channel
in this project.
 38

Figure 4.7: Wireless Channel

4.6 MIMO Receiver

MIMO Receiver in this project is shown in Figure 4.6. MIMO Receiver

started with the 2 Port S Parameter block diagram which represents receiving
antennas. In reality, both receiving antennas received both signal through multipath
propagations. This is represented by having two adders to add both transmitting
signal and transmit to each antenna.
 39

Figure 4.8: MIMO Receiver

The received signal is then added together by an adder. The added RF signal
is upconverted to optical signal using LiNb MZ Modulator which then will be
transmitted to the next node after the breakdown point. Here, the backup system is
completed.
 CHAPTER 5

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Introduction

The Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency Division

Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) using Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11n
has been proposed as optical backhaul backup system in this project. The
specification for this project is using 5.8GHz electrical frequency, 193.1THz optical
frequency. The backup system will be simulated using OptiSystem software. The
input and output constellation diagram will be compared to observe performance for
different data rates up to 600Mbps. The results obtained will be discussed in the
following sections.

5.2 Optical Transmitter

The optical transmitter in OptiSystem simulation module simulates the part

before the breakdown happens. OFDM modulation is included in this part. It is
assumed that the OFDM modulation is done in original optical network.
 41

Figure 5.1 shows the input constellation diagram after the input signal
mapped by 64QAM Sequence Generator. A Constellation Visualizer will be
connected to QAM sequence generator to show the input constellation diagram of the
mapped electrical signal.

Figure 5.1: Input constellation diagram

On the other hand, the mapped electrical signal is connected to Quadrature

Modulator to produce the RF modulated signal which centered at 5.8GHz frequency.
The 5.8GHz RF modulated signal will be shown Figure 5.2.
 42

Figure 5.2: RF spectrum after modulated by Quadrature Modulator at 5.8GHz

The RF modulated signal will then be fed into an optical modulator which is
LiNb MZ Modulator. Here the LiNb MZ Modulator as will be fed in with an
external laser modulation. Therefore, the LiNb MZ Modulator is functioning as
carrier to modulate the 5.8GHz RF modulated signal to laser source which centered
at 193.1THz. The optical modulated signal will be transmitted through optical fiber.
An Optical Spectrum Analyzer is connected to LiNb MZ Modulator output to show
the optical spectrum after optical modulation. This is shown in Figure 5.3.
 43

Figure 5.3: Optical spectrum after optical modulation

An Optical Amplifier with 13dB gain is connected with the output of LiNb
MZ Modulator as a pre-amplifier to amplify the optical signal. Figure 5.4 shows the
optical signal after amplification.
 44

Figure 5.4: Amplified optical signal

5.3 MIMO Transmitter and Wireless Channel

A Photodetector PIN is connected at the other end of optical fiber to

demodulate the modulated optical signal into RF signal. Figure 5.5 shows the RF
spectrum after the optical demodulation. It is observed that other than having a RF
signal at 5.8GHz, there is another harmonic signal at 0.8GHz frequency. It is
optional whether to place a Band Pass Filter to eliminate the unwanted harmonic
signal. However, placing a Band Pass Filter will inevitably increase the noise level.
Since, the harmonic signal is far apart from the 5.8GHz RF signal, thus it does not
affect the signal during receiving part.
 45

Figure 5.5: RF spectrum after optical demodulation

The 5.8GHz RF signal will be copied into two signals by connected to the
input of Fork 1X2. Each RF signal is radiated with a high gain Microstrip patch
antenna. In this project, Microstrip patch antenna is represented by 2 Port S
Parameter block diagram. The values in this block diagram that used to represent the
antenna are S11, S21, S12, S22 in magnitude and phases (polar form). The values can
be converted into scalar values using Table 5.1. Figure 5.6 shows the RF signal
spectrum after radiated with a high gain Microstrip patch antenna.
 46

Table 5.1: S2P values for transmitting antenna [13]

Figure 5.6: RF signal spectrum after radiated with a high gain Microstrip patch
antenna

A Electrical Attenuator is connected with the output of the transmitting

antenna 2 Port S Parameter block diagram to represent the path loss at 5.8GHz with
the distance of 1km. The path loss in this project is calculated according to Fresnel
zone and Plane Earth Path Loss (PEPL). Fresnel zone is resulted from diffraction by
 47

the circular aperture. The most powerful signals are always on the direct line
between a transmitter and a receiver and lie in the first Fresnel zone. Therefore, the
obstacles that block the line-of-sight (LOS) between a transmitter and a receiver
should be removed in order to obtain maximum signal strength. Other than
removing the obstacle, LOS can be obtained by increasing the heights of antennas as
well. To calculate the radius of the first Fresnel zone as well the height of the
antennas, the general equation is used.

Once the radius of the first Fresnel zone as well the height of the antennas
obtained, the calculation can be continued by calculating PEPL. PEPL is used in this
project after considered the issue that free space model is impractical and gives a bad
estimate of the actual path loss. The estimation is even worse when the received
signals are superpositions of few reflected waves. The equation to calculate PEPL is
shown as below.

Practically, the distance between two nodes is 1km. Thus, 1km is assumed to
be the distance between transmitting and receiving antennas. From both equations,
the radius that obtained is 3.6 metres and PEPL is 98dB.

A pair of Fork 1X2 and Electrical Adder are used to simulate the multipath
propagation that experienced by the RF signal before received by receiving antennas.
The multipath propagation is shown in Figure 5.7.
 48

Multipath Propagation

Figure 5.7: Multipath propagation in free space

5.4 MIMO Receiver

After the RF signal is transmitted by transmitting antennas through multipath

propagation and path loss attenuation, RF signals will be received by two receiving
antennas. Again the 2 Port S Parameter block diagram is used to represent the
Microstrip patch receiving antenna. The values in this block diagram that used to
represent the antenna are S11, S21, S12, S22 in magnitude and phases (polar form). The
values can be converted into scalar values using Table 5.2.

Table 5.2: S2P values for receiving antenna [13]

 49

The RF signal from antennas will be summed up by using a Electrical Adder

to simulate the MIMO receiving algorithms. Two RF spectrum analyzers are placed
respectively after the 2 Port S Parameter block diagram and Electrical Adder to
observe the RF signal performance. This is shown in Figure 5.8 and Figure 5.9.

Figure 5.8: RF signal spectrum after received by a high gain Microstrip patch
antenna
 50

Figure 5.9: RF signal spectrum after Electrical Adder

The RF signal from receiving antennas will be fed into LiNb MZ Modulator
again to optically modulate it before transmitting the signal back into optical fiber.
Here, the backup system is completed. Figure 5.10 shows the optical signal
spectrum after the RF signal is converted back into optical signal.
 51

Figure 5.10: Modulated optical output before transmitting back into fiber optic

The output constellation diagram from Electrical Constellation Visualizer is

shown in different data rates. Figure 5.11, Figure 5.12 and Figure 5.13 show output
constellation diagram for data rates of 130Mbps, 300Mbps and 600Mbps. Compare
with the input constellation diagram in Figure 5.1, output constellation diagram for
date rates of 130Mbps and 300Mbps are acceptable since the symbols vectors are
still same at the original positions. However from the comparison between output
constellation diagram of 600Mbps and input constellation diagram, it can be seen
that some symbol vectors has shifted from its original positions. As stated in IEEE
802.11n standard, 600Mbps can be achieved only if the system has 4X4 MIMO
antennas while 2X2 MIMO antennas can achieve a data rates up to 300Mbps.
 52

Figure 5.11: Output Constellation Diagram for data rates of 130Mbps

Figure 5.12: Output Constellation Diagram for data rates of 300Mbps

 53

Figure 5.13: Output Constellation Diagram for data rates of 600Mbps

 54

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH

6.1 Conclusion

The principle of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency

Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) to backup an optical backhaul using Wireless
Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11n is simulating using OptiSystem software
simulation. This backup system consists of transmitting and receiving part. The
amplifier which is placing after the transmitting and receiving antennas is optional
and depending on how strong the signals are.

MIMO-OFDM is a very natural combination. It is beneficial because OFDM

supports multiple antennas and bigger bandwidth. OFDM simplifies equalization
significantly in MIMO systems. This combination directly improves the bandwidth
capacity as well as the speed of wireless communications.

Apart from the advantages stated above, OFDM offers intersymbol

interference (ISI) free and intercarrier interference (ICI) free transmission. An
 55

OFDM consists of N modulated symbols. The symbol duration of OFDM is N times

greater than in a single carrier system with a same symbol rate. The symbol duration
can be made longer by adding cyclic prefix to every symbol. If the cyclic prefix is
longer than the channel delay spread, OFDM offers ISI free.

Through simulations, the MIMO-OFDM optical backhaul backup system

using WLAN 802.11n is simulated. The performance of the signal is observed and
analyzed. The results show that by using 2X2 MIMO-OFDM as the optical backhaul
backup system, the data transmission rate can be up to 300Mbps which is matched
with IEEE 802.11n standard.

6.2 Future Works

There is room of improvement for this MIMO-OFDM optical backhaul

backup system. Further work can be explore by using higher combination of MIMO
antennas which is 4X4, 8X8 and 16X16 to improve the data rates, and coverage as
well.

Besides, future work can be done by replacing Direct Detection-OFDM (DD-

OFDM) by Coherent Detection-OFDM (CD-OFDM). CD-OFDM has more
complicated circuit design but can improve spectral efficiency and receiver
sensitivity.
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