Demonstration of Photonic-Assisted W-Band MMW Wireless Delivery Over a 30.4-km Maritime Link Enabled by LSTM Equalization

In this article, we experimentally demonstrate a high-capacity, long-distance photonic-assisted W-band (82 GHz) millimeter-wave (MMW) wireless transmission system over a 30.4-km maritime channel. Leveraging coherent optical heterodyne generation and long short-term memory (LSTM)-based equalization, we achieved robust data delivery using QPSK, 8-PSK, and 8-APSK modulation formats. The system supports a peak line rate of 17 Gb/s, enabling reliable high-throughput transmission over challenging over-sea propagation environments. It effectively mitigates impairments such as selective fading and high humidity, outperforming traditional DSP and decision feedback equalization (DFE). These results underscore the promise of combining photonic MMW technology with AI-driven signal processing for next-generation integrated terrestrial and nonterrestrial networks (NTNs).