FREE SPACE OPTICS

By,
XAVIER P. S.
D3 EEE
 CONTENTS
 FREE SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION
 WHAT FREE SPACE OPTICS IS?
 WHY USE FSO?
 FSO & OTHER TECHNOLOGIES
 HOW FSO WORKS?
 HISTORY
 ADVANTAGES OF FSO
 APPLICATIONS
 ISSUES WITH FSO
 WHAT IS BEING DONE?
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCE
 FREE SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

In telecommunications, Free Space
Optics (FSO) is an optical
communication technology that uses light
propagating in free space to transmit data
between two points. The technology is
useful where the physical connections by the
means of fibre optic cables are impractical
due to high costs or other considerations.
 WHAT FREE SPACE OPTICS IS:
 FSO is a wireless technology that transmits
data via laser beams.
 FSO uses light to transmit data between
buildings that have clear a line of sight (LOS).
 FSO requires light,which can
be focused using either
LEDs or LASER.
 WHY USE FSO?
 FSO can send large amounts of data (around 2.5
Gbps of data).
 No need to get a license, the spectrum used is an
unlicensed worldwide.
 Can transmit at distances around 4 km.
 The cost is often less than that of using fiber
optic cables.
 FSO systems can be installed quickly (in days).
 Because it uses light there is no RF interference.
FSO & OTHER TECHNOLOGIES
 HOW FSO WORKS?
 FSO systems use optical wireless link heads each having:
• a transceiver with a laser or LED transmitter
• a lens or telescope (can have more that one)
 shaping overcomes building movement
• a receiver usually a semiconductor
• May also employ servo motors, stepping motors, voice
coils, mirrors, quad detectors, CCD arrays, and even liquid
crystals and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) for
tracking and acquisition.

 FSO operates in the infrared (IR) range around 850 and 1550
nm (frequencies around 200 THz).
 FSO TRANSMITTER

FSO RECEIVER
 HISTORY
 The transmission of information using
light is actually not a new idea.

 In
the 8th century, Greeks used light as a
communication medium.
In the late nineteenth century, Alexander Graham
Bell converted voice sounds to telephone signals and transmitted
them between receivers through free air space along a beam of light for a
distance of some 600 feet, - this was later called PHOTOPHONE.
In the mid-1960's NASA initiated
experiments to utilize the laser as
a means of communication
between the ground and space.
Satellite LASER communication
using FSO is performed over a
link distance of over 2000 km at
1 Gbps transmission rate.
 9/11 attack on U.S. destroyed everything including normal fiber link. Wall
street stock market was closed because the communication was destroyed.

FSO communication between Merrill Lynch Brokerage and Wall Street in New
York following the terrorist attack that destroyed normal fiber optic link. Two
of these units were used between building to re-establish a high speed
communication link.
 ADVANTAGES OF FSO
 Wireless communicate from A to B
 Low costs
 High bit rate (10 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps)
 Set up a link in a few days
 The lasers used are eye
safe, so even a butterfly
can fly unscathed through
a beam
 APPLICATIONS
 ConnectivitySolutions
 Temporary Network Provision
 Cable Free Connectivity in the Finance
Sector
 CCTV Security Applications
 GSM Microcell Connectivity
Industrial estates, Science parks and university campus
environments typically exhibit a common problem – a
number of separate buildings, separated by roads or other
obstacles, between which communications links are
frequently in demand.
Cable digging, increasingly unpopular in cities, is regulated by
the local authority who may restrict re-digging frequency of
roads - and the cost may be prohibitive in any case, especially if
a river or railway is in the way.
 ISSUES WITH FSO
 Actual transmission rates are weather
dependent.
 Atmospheric attenuation is variable and hard to
predict.
 Distance is limited
 FSO may not work well in some locations
(Fog, dust storms, scintillation)
 Compared to fiber-optics higher launch power
is required to get useful distance
 WHAT IS BEING DONE?
 LEDs and Fresnel type lenses help reduce power
requirements
 Wide-beam technology reduces effects of:
• Building movement
• scintillation, and shimmer

 FSO and microwave hybrid systems to overcome

distance, fog, and dust.
 Parallel lasers help integrity and increase the amount
of data that can be transmitted.
 Continued standards development
 CONCLUSION
FSO is just starting to be applied to
solve the Internet “last-mile” interconnectivity
problem. Some believe that it may be the
unlimited bandwidth solution for the metro
urban core of downtown building-to-building
communication, as well as the optimal
technology for home-to-home and office-to-
office connectivity.
 REFERENCE
http://www.lightpointe.com/
http://www.freespaceoptic.com/
http://www.fsonews.com/
http://www.cablefreesolutions.com/
http://www.thefoa.org/
http://www.free-space-optics.org/
http://www.freespaceoptics.com/
http://www.opticsreport.com/