Terminology

ACLR	Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) in 5G and other systems measures how much transmitter power leaks into adjacent frequency channels. In other words, it is the ratio of the transmitted power on the assigned channel to the power measured in the adjacent channel. RFOptic’s RFoF systems are optimized to address critical criteria such as ACLR for the ever-widening channel bandwidths.
DAS	Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) play a crucial role in enhancing wireless communication by improving coverage and capacity in places such as large buildings, stadiums, and urban areas. RFOptic’s RF over Fiber (RFoF) solutions are designed to optimize DAS performance, delivering high-quality RF signals over long distances with minimal signal loss.
EDFA	Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) is an optical amplifier that is used to compensate for the loss of long fiber spans, patch panel connections and other optical losses. It operates in the 1550 nm wavelength range (typically the C-band, about 1530–1565 nm). It features a flat RF response and is useful to recover fiber losses in optical delay lines and drive optical splitters for phased-array radar systems.
EVM	Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) is a measure used to quantify the performance of a digital radio transmitter or receiver by measuring how far the actual constellation points deviate from their ideal positions. Lower EVM values indicate better signal accuracy and fewer data errors. EVM is reported in percentage of symbol errors. It is crucial for measuring signal quality, which is essential for the development, testing, and maintenance of communication systems such as 5G and SATCOM. To meet the growing demand for 5G/6G and SATCOM testing, RFOptic has developed advanced RFoF systems that focus on dynamic range performance and are optimized to address critical criteria including EVM.
GNSS	In Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications, RF over Fiber (RFoF) systems connect antennas positioned outdoors with receivers located indoors or at remote monitoring stations. This setup allows for optimal antenna placement while minimizing signal degradation. The system design incorporates features such as optical signal management and signal conditioning to maintain high signal integrity.
GPS	Combining GPS (Global Positioning System) with RFoF (RF over Fiber) allows satellite radio frequency signals to travel over fiber-optic cables instead of standard copper coaxial lines. This setup carries precise GPS location and timing data over long distances, and into shielded locations with minimal signal loss. RFOptic’s GPS over Fiber solution is a module designed to distribute GPS timing signals in areas without direct satellite visibility, such as tunnels, buildings, and parking decks.
IP67	The Ingress Protection (IP) rating indicates how well an electrical enclosure or device blocks solid objects and liquids from entering its interior. IP67-rated enclosures, such as RFOptic’s outdoor enclosures, protect internal electronics from dust ingress (dust-tight) and from temporary immersion in water up to 1 meter deep for 30 minutes.
LNA	A Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) is a front-end electronic component in RFoF systems that boosts weak radio frequency signals with minimal added noise before they are converted into optical signals for RFoF links, such as RFOptic’s RFoF high SFDR and ULTRA product families. RFOptic’s RFoF programmable transmitters and receivers have built-in LNAs, which help optimize signal-to-noise ratios, achieve low noise figures (down to ~5–6 dB), and improve minimum detectable signal (MDS) levels for weak incoming RF signals across wide bandwidths.
MZM	A Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM) is an optical device used in RFoF systems to intensity modulate optical signals with high-frequency electrical RF signals. It operates by splitting a light beam into two paths, phase-modulating them, and recombining them to produce intensity modulation. RFOptic’s High Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (HSFDR) RF over Fiber (RFoF) series utilizes a lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) MZM to achieve exceptional signal linearity and minimal distortion across ultra-wide bandwidths.
ODL	An Optical Delay Line (ODL) is an optoelectronic device used to delay RF signals. It provides fixed or programmable time delays from nanoseconds up to several hundred microseconds for RF signals from 1MHz up to 40GHz and beyond. RFOptic offers two types of Optical Delay Lines: General Optical Delay Lines for testing and calibrating radar systems or RF communications systems, and Altimeter Optical Delay Lines
QAM	Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) encodes data by varying the amplitudes of two carrier waves that are 90° out of phase (in quadrature) and combines them into an output signal. This technique changes the amplitude and phase angle of the transmitted signal. Each discrete amplitude and phase combination is defined as a distinct symbol. QAM modulations are used with 64, 256 and 1024 symbols. That modulation scheme packs more data into a single radio channel. RF over Fiber offers significant benefits for 5G and 6G deployments, including handling higher-order QAM encoding such as 1024-QAM and wider modulation bandwidths of 100MHz, 200MHz and 400MHz which require very high spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR).
SNMP	Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a protocol used in a customer’s control room or network management system (NMS) to monitor and control RFoF converters and to receive immediate notification of any change in system status. As part of RFOptic’s remote monitoring and control (M&C), SNMP is particularly useful for large-scale deployments.
RFoF	RF over Fiber (RFoF) is a technology that converts radio frequency (RF) electrical signals into optical signals so they can be transmitted over fiber-optic cables. RFOptic’s RF over Fiber programmable family consists of direct modulation RFoF solutions covering bandwidths from 1MHz up to 2.5GHz, 3GHz, 4GHz, 6GHz, and 8GHz. RFOptics HSFDR and Ultra products cover higher frequency ranges from 10MHz up to 12GHz, 18GHz, 20GHz, 30GHz, 40GHz and 67GHz.
SFDR	Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) is the usable dynamic range of a system, limited by spurious components such as harmonics and intermodulation products and by the noise floor. In other words, it is the ratio (usually in dB) of the main signal power to the strongest undesired spurious component. RFOptic’s HSFDR RFoF Transmitters & Receivers deliver high SFDR over an exceptionally wide bandwidth.
UAV	An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft that operates without a human pilot on board, flying either under remote control or fully autonomously. RFoF technology is particularly beneficial for UAV applications, providing high dynamic range and bi-directional support for remote antenna setups. RFOptic’s antenna remoting technology is especially suited for drones and UAVs.
ULTRA	RFOptic’s ULTRA series of low-power, lightweight RFoF transmitters and receivers covers the 0.1GHz up to 20GHz range. They can be installed in all RFOptic’s standard enclosures including the 2U high-density subsystems, accommodating up to 40 independent transmitters/receivers or 20 bidirectional terminals.
WDM	Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is a technology used in fiber-optic communications to send multiple data streams simultaneously over a single optical fiber using different wavelengths of laser light. RFOptic’s phase-matched WDM RF over Fiber (RFoF) multi-link systems represent an innovation in high-frequency signal transmission and are especially suitable for direction-finding (DF) radar and electronic warfare (EW) systems, as well as other applications based on interferometry and phased arrays.