Free Space Optics (FSO)

By:- RAJEEV NAIK

4SH08EC404
CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 HISTORY OF FSO
 SYSTEM DESIGN OF FSO
 HOW FSO WORKS
 WHY FSO
 WAVELENGTH USED
 TECHNOLOGIES
 CHALLENGES
 FSO SECURITY
 APPLICATIONS
 COMPARISON WITH
OTHERS
 FUTURE OF FSO
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES
 Why Not Just Bury More Fiber?
Cost
Rights of Way
Permits
Trenching
Time
With FSO, especially through the
window, no permits, no digging,
no fees
Introduction to the concepts of Free
Space Optics (FSO)
 FSO is a line-of-sight technology
which uses LASERS and Photo
detectors to provide optical
connections between two points
—without the fiber.
 FSO can transmit data, voice or
video at speeds capable of
reaching 2.5 Gbps. Products
capable of speeds upto 10 Gbps
are expected to hit the markets
within one year.
 FSO units consist of an optical
transceiver with a laser
(transmitter) and a Photo detector
(receiver) to provide full duplex
(bi-directional) capability.
 FSO systems use invisible
infrared laser light wavelengths in
the 750nm to 1550nm range.
HISTORY OF FSO:
HISTORY OF FREE SPACE OPTICS(FSO)

 Free space optics was first demonstrated by Alexander Graham Bell

in late nineteenth century.

 Bell's experiment converted voice sounds into telephone signals.

 Late 1950’s~early 1960's, several scientists theorized and

developed laser.

 In the early 1980's U.S military and NASA made research on FSO
for inter-satellite communication proposes.

 Germany, France and Japan made significant

advancements in free space optics for satellite
communications since 1985 for private sector.
FSO Major Sub System
SYSTEM DESIGN
 Based on connectivity between wireless units,
each consisting of an transceiver.
 Each unit uses
Optical source
Lens (transmitter and receiver)
Optical receiver
Transmitter fiber
Receiver fiber
Photon detector receiver.
 Usually FSO uses laser,communication over
short distance will be done using LEDs.
SYSTEM DESIGN
 How FSO Works
3 A receiver at the other end of the
2 Transmitter transmits the link collects those modulated
modulated beams into the air beams

5 Reverse direction data

transported the same way.
• Full duplex

1 Network traffic 4 Received signal

converted into
converted back into
pulses of narrow
data steam and
& invisible
given to the network
beams
WAVELENGTHS USED
 Depending on their robust property against
atmospheric absorption and possibility of
their implementation
 780nm-850nm
 1529nm-1600nm
 10,000nm(researches are going on)
TECHNOLOGIES USED

 VCSEL(780nm-
850nm)
 Silicon based
receiver(780nm-
850nm)
 Fabry-perot
laser(1600nm)
 Indium gallium
arsenide
receiver(1600nm)
TYPES OF BEAM USED
 Gaussian beam:
 EM RADIATION WHOSE
TRANSEVERSE ELECTRIC FIELD
AND RADIATION CAN BE
MODELLED BY GAUSSIAN
FUCTION.
 Top hat beam:
 A LASER BEAM WITH UNIFORM
ENERGY DENSITY WITHIN A
CIRCULAR DISK.
 TYPICALLY FORMED BY
DEFRACTIVE OPICAL ELEMENTS
FROM BY GAUSSIAN BEAM
 Why Free Space Optics (FSO)?
The “Last Mile” Bottleneck Problem
Wide Area Networks between Local Area Networks in
major cities are extremely fast buildings are also fast
• Fiber based • >100Mbps
• >2.5 Gbps

The connections in
between are typically
a lot slower
• 0.3-1.5 Mbps

Only about 5% of commercial

buildings are lit with fiber
Fundamental Concepts
Small Angles - Divergence & Spot
Size
1° ≈ 17 mrad → 1 mrad ≈ 0.0573°

Small angle approximation:

Angle (in milliradians) * Range (km)= Spot Size (m)

1 mrad 1m

1 km

Divergence Range Spot Diameter

0.5 mrad 1.0 km ~0.5 m (~20 in)
2.0 mrad 1.0 km ~2.0 m (~6.5 ft)
4.0 mrad (~ ¼ deg) 1.0 km ~4.0 m (~13.0 ft)
Challenges Sunlight

Environmental factors
Window
Attenuation
Fog

Building
Motion

Scintillation Alignment

Range
Obstructions

Low Clouds
Each of these factors can “attenuate” (reduce) the signal.
However, there are ways to mitigate each environmental
factor.
Challenges
Atmospheric Attenuation - FOG
 Absorption or scattering of optical signals
due to airborne particles
 Primarily FOG but can be rain, snow,
smoke, dust, etc.
 Can result in a complete outage
 FSO wavelengths and fog droplets are
close to equal in size
 (Mie Scattering)

 Typical FSO systems work 2-3X further

than the human eye can see
 High availability deployments require
short links that can operate in the fog
Challenges
Low Clouds, Rain, Snow and Dust
 Low Clouds
 Very similar to fog
 May accompany rain and snow
 Rain
 Drop sizes larger than fog and wavelength of light
 Extremely heavy rain (can’t see through it) can
take a link down
 Water sheeting on windows
 Heavy Snow
 May cause ice build-up on windows
 Whiteout conditions
 Sand Storms
 Likely only in desert areas; rare in the urban core
 Challenges
Scintillation
• Beam spreading and wandering due to propagation through
air pockets of varying temperature, density, and index of
refraction.
• Almost mutually exclusive with fog attenuation.
• Results in increased error rate but not complete outage.
Challenges
Building Motion – Thermal Expansion
Results from Seattle
Deployment:

• 15% of buildings move

more than 4 mrad

• 5% of buildings move
more than 6 mrad

• 1% of buildings move
more than 10 mrad
Challenges
Compensating for Building Motion – Two Methods
1. Automatic Pointing and Tracking
 Allows narrow divergence beams for greater link margin
 System is always optimally aligned for maximum link margin
 Additional cost and complexity

0.2 – 1 mrad divergence

2. Large Divergence and Field of View
= 0.2 to 1 meter spread at 1 km
 Beam spread is larger than expected building motion
 Reduces link margin due to reduced energy density
 Low cost

2 – 10 mrad divergence

2 to 10 meter spread
at 1 km
FSO SECURITY
FSO is more secure than other wireless-based
transmission technologies.
 FSO laser beams cannot be detected with spectrum
analyzers or RF meters.
 It requires a matching Free Space Optics FSO
transceiver.
beams generated by FSO systems are narrow
and invisible.
Data transmitted over an encrypted connection.
APPLICATIONS

TOP 5 APPLICATIONS
 Telecommunication Networks
 Computer Networks (LAN-to-LAN)
 Broadband Internet Access
 Disaster Recovery
 Temporary Deployment

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
 Short distance LAN extension
 Internet/intranet provision
 Traffic Grooming in Cell Networks
 Airports, Railways
...(CONTD)
ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS
 Entreprise Connectivity
 Health Care
 Engineering & design
 Video services
 Security
 Limitations
• Unreliable Bandwidth availability : Variations in weather
conditions affect available bandwidth
• Requires Line of Sight link
• Limited Range
• Need sophisticated mechanism for alignment of the
transmitter and receiver
• Even slight mechanical disturbances may lead to loss of
alignment, and may result in complete link break-down
COMPARISON OF FSO WITH OTHERS
Access Speed Monthly Cost/Mbps/
Medium (Mbps) cost ($) month($)

Dial-up 0.056 20 357

Satellite 0.4 50 125
Cable 1.5 50 33
Modem
DSL(min) 0.144 49 340
DSL(max) 8 1200 150
RF 155 1250 8
FSO 155 555 4
WHY FSO ?
 DEMAND OF MORE BANDWIDTH.

 OFFER LOWEST COST.

 REQUIRES LESS INSTALLATION TIME.

 FSO BRINGS NEW POSSIBLE TECHNOLOGY THAT

MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BE FULFILLED BY ANOTHER
ACCESS TECHNOLOGY
FUTURE OF FSO
 FSO technology became popular as it was used to
enable the Wall Street Stock Exchange back to
business after the 9/11 tragedy in less than 48 hours.

 Manufacturers of FSO optical products are

LightPointer, AirFiber, and Fsona Communications.

 It is an alternative to fiber optics technology.

 In future FSO will be used everywhere.

like cellular base station, Wi-Fi hotspots, disaster
recovery etc.
CONCLUSION
 Free-space optics technology is a good
alternative, especially compare to fiber optics.

 In the future, FSO may be one of the most

important access technologies due to its
advantages.

 It will capture big market in the future.