Radio-over-fiber AM-to-FM upconversion using an optically injected semiconductor laser

A radio-over-fiber system uses light to carry a microwave subcarrier on optical fibers. The microwave is usually frequency modulated for wireless broadcasting. A conventional optical communication system usually operates at the baseband with amplitude modulation. The interface of the two systems thus needs an up-conversion from the baseband to the microwave band with AM-to-FM transformation. An all-optical solution employing an optically injected semiconductor laser is investigated. The laser is operated in a dynamic state, where its intensity oscillates at a microwave frequency that varies with the injection strength. When the injection carries AM data, the microwave is frequency modulated accordingly. We demonstrate optical conversion from an OC-12 622-Mbps AM baseband signal to the corresponding FM microwave signal. The microwave is centered at 15.90 GHz. A bit-error rate of less than 10^-9 is measured. © 2006 Optical Society of America.