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Free Space Optics: Light-Based Wireless Technology With the increased need to obtain high-speed connectivity in business environments today, many companies have turned to technologies such as fiber optic communication to increase productivity. Fiber optic technology offer speeds far exceeding that of Ethernet and Gigabit, which make it perfect for WAN applications. However, fiber optic technology is very difficult to implement. The first obstacle is cost: In order to implement fiber optic cables, the company must place them underground.
Digging costs and planning are one of the longest and most expensive aspects of fiber optic implementation (Optical Fiber). This does not take into account whether or not digging is even allowed from building to building. There are times where the company is not allowed to dig due to city ordinances, or perhaps they do not own the land that they plan to dig through. This is especially true in large cities. Thankfully, there is an alternative to fiber optics which functions on a similar technology, but through air. This is known as Free Space Optics, or FSO.
Free Space Optics, or FSO for short, is as the name implies: It is an optical technology that transmits data through space, not unlike 802. 11 WLAN technologies, through invisible beams of light (Free-space optical communication). Because it uses light as its transmission medium, its speeds are similar to that of its solid counterpart fiber optics. However, FSO only needs an optical transceiver to receive and transmit from point to point, and is free of the restrictions that both fiber optics and 802. 11 WLAN technologies.
There are many benefits from opting to implement FSO instead of fiber optics or 802. 11. One of these benefits is cost. As mentioned earlier, the cost of implementing fiber optics is one of the main reasons why using fiber optics is so restrictive. The cost of digging and laying down cabling, even if it is approved, make fiber optics a luxury for most businesses. With 802. 11, businesses must purchase a license in order to use them for large scale applications (Free space Optics). These licenses are implemented by the FCC and are necessary to regulate the amount of users as well as limit
RF interference from conflicting access points. Another benefit to using FSO is one that it shares with fiber optics: Because it utilizes light instead of electricity to transmit information, it is immune to electromagnetic interference. This even allows it to be installed behind a window, when outside installation proves to be too cumbersome or costly (FSO). It also has a high level of security because unlike 802. 11, which transmit in a wide area in order to send information, the beam of light needed to transmit information between nodes is rather narrow in comparison.
It is also relatively easy to encrypt this beam for addition security (free-space optical communication). It is also rather quick to implement, which make it ideal for large events requiring connectivity or disaster recovery, when high-speed connectivity must be achieved as soon as possible. However, one of FSO’s benefits is also one of its disadvantages. Because FSO is a line of sight technology and based upon light, this means that both points must be aligned to each other and there must be no obstructions between points in order to transmit data (FSO).
This also means that if anything gets in between both points, the data can be corrupted or even lost. Though 802. 11 can still affected by obstructions between the access point and nodes, it still has limited transmission capability. This makes FSO very susceptible to outside weather conditions, such as rain, snow, and fog. Fog is especially troublesome because the water molecules in fog can modify the characteristics of light transmitted by the FSO transceiver through absorption, scattering, or refraction. It also makes FSO susceptible to heat waves emitted by man-made machines such as air-conditioning units (FSO).
Lastly, there are some safety concerns due to the implementation of lasers in FSO technology. Proponents of FSO technology have already addressed some of these issues in FSO design. In some environments where weather is an issue, some vendors have come up with units that implement multiple sending and receiving points, as well as using multiple units to achieve the same effect (Free-space optical communication). Increasing the transmission power of the beam has also been an effective solution. However, nothing has been quite as effective as proper network design and planning, which help keep roblems from happening in the first place. As it is, FSO is still considered a new technology. However, because of its benefits to clients located in places where network connectivity options are limited, FSO has found many applications and uses. Some of the locations where FSO has been successfully implemented are San Francisco and London, where foggy conditions are frequent. FSO is finding itself as a welcome option and component to the network administrator’s choice in infrastructure design. Work Cited Free-space optical communication. (2008, November 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 06:31, November 29, 2008, from http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Free-space_optical_communication&oldid=252724166 Free Space Optics (FSO) : Technology History Markey Challenges Advantages. Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://www. free-space-optics. org/ Free Space Optics :: Technology. Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://www. freespaceoptics. org/ Optical fiber. (2008, November 28). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:30, November 29, 2008, from http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Optical_fiber&oldid=254631201