Photonic Mixers as Tx and Rx in a Bidirectional mmWave Real-Time Link

Photonic components offer unique advantages for future broadband wireless communication links, especially for carrier frequencies above 100 GHz. We report on the latest developments regarding photonic mixers as transmitters and receivers for use in such wireless links. As an illustration, we present a real-time link at 110 GHz across 30 m free space exploiting both photonic technology from optical C-band and modems from state-of-the-art E-band technology.