Analysis of Optical Single Sideband Modulators for Radio Over Fiber Link with and without Second Order Sidebands

Abstract

The analysis of Optical Single Sideband (OSSB) generation with and without second-order sidebands for Radio over Fiber (RoF) is presented. The performance of systems based on hybrid coupler with distinct phase angle and Dual-Parallel Dual-Drive Mach-Zehnder Modulator (DP-DDMZM) is compared using simulation. Impact of parameters like Single-Mode Fiber (SMF) length, Radiofrequency (RF) amplitude, and laser linewidth on Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) has been investigated. It has been observed that eliminating one of the second-order sidebands with 120° hybrid coupler improves peak SNR in comparison to 90° hybrid coupler with both second-order sidebands and DP-DDMZM-based system without second-order sidebands irrespective of Continuous Wave (CW) laser linewidth.