Photonic Antennas for Wireless Communication System

Abstract

In recently years, we have introduced a new concept of photonic antennas for wireless communication system using radio-over-fiber technology. The photonic antenna is a functional device in which a photonic device such as photodetector and a planar antenna are directly integrated to form a photonic feeding RF (Radio Frequency) transmitter. This paper presented our recent research activities on the experiments of the optical modulation and photodetection at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies, the development of a new planar antenna: coplanar patch antenna (CPA) for the direct integration with the photodetector, and the transmission experiments of a basic photonic antenna system based the new concept.