Optimal Dithering Configuration Mitigating Rayleigh-Backscattering-Induced Distortion in Radioastronomic Optical Fiber Systems

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how to optimally configure dithering in radio-over-fiber systems to reduce Rayleigh backscattering-induced distortions, balancing nonlinearity mitigation with spectrum integrity and energy efficiency.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of dithering parameters, identifying optimal conditions for minimizing backscattering effects in radioastronomic optical fiber systems.

Findings

Lower dithering tone frequency influences laser chirping and received spectrum.

Optimal dithering parameters balance nonlinearity reduction and spectrum preservation.

Proposed configuration enhances system performance while minimizing collateral effects.

Abstract

In the context of Radioastronomic applications where the Analog Radio-over-Fiber technology is used for the antenna downlink, detrimental nonlinearity effects arise because of the interference between the forward signal generated by the laser and the Rayleigh backscattered one which is re-forwarded by the laser itself toward the photodetector. The adoption of the so called dithering technique, which involves the direct modulation of the laser with a sinusoidal tone and takes advantage of the laser chirping phenomenon, has been proved to reduce such Rayleigh Back Scattering - induced nonlinearities. The frequency and the amplitude of the dithering tone should both be as low as possible, in order to avoid undesired collateral effects on the received spectrum as well as keep at low levels the global energy consumption. Through a comprehensive analysis of dithered Radio over Fiber systems, it is demonstrated that a progressive reduction of the dithering tone frequency affects in a peculiar fashion both the chirping characteristics of the field emitted by the laser and the spectrum pattern of the received signal at the fiber end. Accounting for the concurrent effects caused by such phenomena, optimal operating conditions are identified for the implementation of the dithering tone technique in radioastronomic systems.