5G mobile networks aim to support a large variety of services with different and demanding requirements. To achieve this, analog radio over fiber (ARoF) fronthaul along with millimeter-wave (mmWave) cells is a strong candidate to be part of the 5G architecture. Very high throughput can be achieved by using mmWave signals due to the large available bandwidths, which combines well with the advantages of employing ARoF technology. Nevertheless, combined mmWave and ARoF systems face a particular challenge as the impacts of both channels—such as high free-space path loss, phase noise, chromatic dispersion, and other degrading effects—affect the signal without the possibility for intermediate restoration. The selection of the signal waveforms plays an important role in reducing these defects. In addition, waveforms are one of the keys in the physical layer available towards satisfying the requirements for 5G and beyond. In this manuscript, several key requirements are presented to determine the merit of candidate waveform formats to fulfill the 5G requirements in the mmWave ARoF architecture. An overview of the different suitable waveforms for this architecture is provided, discussing their advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, a comprehensive comparison in terms of different requirements is also presented in this paper.

中文翻译：

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超越 5G 中 ARoF 的候选波形

5G 移动网络旨在支持具有不同和苛刻要求的大量服务。为实现这一目标，模拟光纤无线电 (ARoF) 前传以及毫米波 (mmWave) 蜂窝是成为 5G 架构一部分的有力候选。由于可用带宽很大，因此使用毫米波信号可以实现非常高的吞吐量，这与采用 ARoF 技术的优势完美结合。然而，毫米波和 ARoF 组合系统面临着特殊的挑战，因为两个通道的影响（例如高自由空间路径损耗、相位噪声、色散和其他降级效应）会影响信号，而无法进行中间恢复。信号波形的选择在减少这些缺陷方面起着重要作用。此外，波形是物理层中可用于满足 5G 及更高版本要求的关键之一。在这份手稿中，提出了几个关键要求，以确定候选波形格式的优点，以满足毫米波 ARoF 架构中的 5G 要求。概述了适用于该架构的不同波形，讨论了它们的优缺点。此外，本文还针对不同要求进行了全面比较。讨论它们的优点和缺点。此外，本文还针对不同要求进行了全面比较。讨论它们的优点和缺点。此外，本文还针对不同要求进行了全面比较。