Toward 6G distributed MIMO for indoor environments based on photonics-aided analog fronthaul

Optics Continuum 2026 Open access

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Authors: Tianyu Jiang, Kristaps Rubuls, Dan Li, Mahdieh Joharifar, Armands Ostrovskis, Anders Djupsjöbacka, Toms Salgals, Jakub Zverina, Leoš Halmo, Sandis Spolītis, Vjačeslavs Bobrovs, Oskars Ozolins
+2 more Xiaodan Pang, Rafael Zamora Puerta
DOI: 10.1364/optcon.591808
Cited by: 1
References: 15

Abstract

To meet the demands of sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks, distributed multiple-input multiple-output (D-MIMO) systems employing geographically separated antenna units offer enhanced coverage, capacity, and efficiency. We present a practical and scalable four-transmitter D-MIMO proof-of-concept using coherent joint transmission (CJT) and analog radio-over-fiber (ARoF) fronthaul, achieving sub-nanosecond synchronization. Experiments with 50 MHz New Radio signals at 3.2 GHz validate CJT performance under line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions. Results show up to 10.42 dB EVM-derived gain in the near-balanced LOS case and up to 6.22 dB relative improvement over the best contributing single-Tx baseline in the investigated NLOS cases.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Advanced Photonic Communication Systems Advanced Wireless Communication Technologies Millimeter-Wave Propagation and Modeling

Publication details

Journal / source
Optics Continuum
Publisher
Optica Publishing Group
Volume
5
Issue
7
Pages
2232–2232
Publication date
8 April 2026
Language
EN