Energy and electromagnetic pollution considerations in ARoF-based multi-operator multi-service systems

Energy-efficient system design with controlled levels of electromagnetic pollution, without compromising on the user quality of experience and operator revenue, are essential considerations in the design of next-generation wireless communication networks. Integration of multiple services and multiple operator transmissions onto a common shared infrastructure is the solution forward to satisfy the contradictory subscriber and operator requirements and also to derive a future-proof fronthaul to support new techniques like opportunistic, co-operative and cognitive communications. This paper reports the link budget analysis, energy efficiency estimation and electromagnetic radiation calculation for a Multi-Operator Multi-Service Analog Radio over Fiber fronthaul for a small cell configuration. The BER analysis and the link budget analysis are presented for the central base station to remote antenna unit (RAU) link as well as the RAU to user equipment link. The estimated minimum transmission power sufficient to establish and maintain a quality connection suggests the possibility of eliminating the energy consuming power amplifiers in the transceivers and also achieve a reduced electromagnetic pollution in the environment.