This paper reviews fiber optic link techniques from the microwave and millimeter-wave transmission point of view. Several architectures of fiber optic links are reviewed. The application of MMIC technologies to the optical receivers are discussed and 26-GHz subcarrier transmission experimental works are described. Novel fiber optic links which utilize both optical device nonlinearities and microwave functional circuits are also reviewed. A system concept of millimeter-wave cellular radio using fiber optic links is finally discussed.

This paper proposes the laser diode receiving mixer which utilizes the laser diode nonlinearity. The laser diode receiving mixer can make the bidirectional fiber optic link simple and cost-effective. These laser diodes are applied to configure the LD-LD MIX link which consists of two laser diodes, two local oscillators, two microwave switches and one fiber cable. The LD-LD MIX link configuration is extended to introduce novel two fiber optic links, i.e. the local suppression link and the image cancellation link. These links utilize the combination of microwave circuits and optical devices. These configurations are experimentally investigated at microwave frequencies and the QPSK signal transmission is successfully demonstrated.

The performance of a traveling wave Mach-Zehnder external optical modulator (EOM) mixer is described and compared with a conventional diode mixer's performance. Additionally, by incorporating external circuitry, the EOM mixer can provide single sideband suppression in addition to the inherent local oscillator suppression. The basic frequency mixing function of the EOM mixer is first described theoretically and then extended to the sideband suppression case. The performance of both configurations is also presented. Achievable electrical isolation between LO (carrier) and RF (upconverted data signal at LOIF) frequencies is greater than 95 dB and total link conversion loss is 37 dB in this demonstration with a laser diode source. Sideband suppression of greater than 43 dB with respect to the desired sideband at the photodetector output is achieved.