2.4 GHz photonic antenna for wireless local area network

Abstract

Photonic antenna can be defined as intimate integration of optoelectronics with planar antenna to produce a highly multifunction module. Some works have been done to integrate optoelectronics with antenna. Among them, some focus on downlink side (photodiode integration with antenna) and some concentrate on uplink side (integration of laser diode with antenna). There are also some publications on bidirectional photonic antenna, which cover uplink and downlink. The bidirectional photonic antenna can be categorized into two groups, i.e. which use optoelectronics transceiver such as asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulator (AFPM) and separate photodetector and laser. AFPM is very specialized device, rarely available in the market, and its transceiver nature limit the flexibility of performance optimization for uplink and downlink. On other side, vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and photodiode can be easily found in the market, lower cost, allowing independent optimization for uplink and downlink, and reliable. To the best of author’s knowledge, all publications on photonic antenna are measurement-based. This chapter uses simulation software to evaluate photonic antenna performance, to allow flexibility in design optimization, cost and time effective design process, and more complete evaluation parameter due to the use of optical communication system simulation. This chapter presents a 2.4 GHz photonic antenna design, simulation, and performance evaluation of photonic antenna using optical communication system software.