Optically Feeding 1.75 W With 100 m MMF in Efficient C-RAN Front-Hauls With Sleep Modes

Using bundles of multimode optical fibers (MMF) as part of the 5G centralized radio access networks front-haul solutions for optically powering of low power consumption Remote Radio Heads (RRH) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with 100 m of 200 mu m core diameter MMF. From the 34.85 W electrical power provided to the system, 1.748 W are delivered to the load, giving an overall 5% efficiency, being the temperature controller of the High Power Lasers the most critical element. If intermediates results are considered, the efficiency from input optical power to electrical power after the PV cells is 43.4%. The RRH manages 2.34 W for control, battery charge, communications and the load operation. The system includes a low power bidirectional control channel that provides the capability of enabling different sleep modes and sending information about the status of the battery and sensing elements at RRH. The RRH has a minimum power consumption of 3.15 mW. Optimized design of different elements of the system are included. The system is tested by feeding a RF power amplifier at the RRH; providing a stable power supply and EVM performance below 17.8% with QPSK on a 20 GHz RF carrier.

Automated summary

The use of bundles of multimode optical fibers for optically powering low power consumption Remote Radio Heads in 5G networks is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The system achieved an overall efficiency of 5%, with critical elements identified and optimized for performance. The stable power supply and satisfactory transmission performance were achieved through careful design and testing.