Posters Galore: 'Wideband RF Over Fibre/IP'

Matthew Evans
University of Essex, Aber Electronics

The outside broadcast industry is built upon the successful transmission and reception of data modulated onto RF signals. Technological advancements have not been experienced in the same way as in other industries; solutions simply rehash old ideas. Some applications have moved towards the use of optical fibre transmission mediums for RF signals bolted onto existing installations; this project was targeted towards a new integrated adaptable solution.

The project was a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) collaboration between ABER Electronics Ltd. and the University of Essex; partially funded by Innovate UK.

The first stage of the project was to design and develop a highly versatile downconverter, integrated with an improved custom antenna design and an existing radio-over-fibre (RoF) transmitter. The RoF transmitter (and subsequently receiver) are existing products on the market so a key partnership was setup to allow for easier integration and support of the system. The second stage of the project was to develop a high bandwidth bi-directional RF over IP system using a software defined radio (SDR) module. The third, and final, stage was to redesign the existing range of power amplifiers offered by the host company; to significantly improve their operating efficiencies.
This has since morphed into a full-blown PhD research project with exciting ideas and developments being explored. Future work is to be focussed around the completion of the green amplifiers research PhD as well as developing a fully end-to-end solution for the outside broadcast industry with one eye on advancements made in the 5G research area.

View the poster here.
View more posters and videos