FREE SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

2012

ABSTRACT
Free Space Optical Communication (FSO) is a line-of-sight technology that enables optical transmission of data, voice, and video communications through the air. Free space optical communication systems are different than Fiber optic system. Free space optics use beams of light, such as laser beam, as optical communication signals, and therefore do not require cables or fiber connected between transmitter and receivers. Optical transmissions provide a wider bandwidth than other wireless communications mediums, such as RF frequency signals and optical signals can be more focused than RF signals, and are thus more difficult to intercept and less likely to cause interference with other transmissions. Over the last two decades free-space optical communication (FSO) has become more and more interesting as an adjunct or alternative to radio frequency communication.
I am going to explore this new technology regarding how does it actually work, its applications , its utilization in the communication network , current drawbacks , compare it with RF signals and predict whether it can be the answer for high speed communication for the future.

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Introduction
Communication, as it has always been relied and simply depended upon speed. The faster the means ! the more popular, the more effective the communication is ! Presently in the twenty-first century wireless networking is gaining because of speed and ease of deployment and relatively high network robustness. Modern era of optical communication originated with the invention of LASER in 1958 and fabrication of optical fiber in 1970. When we hear of optical communications we all think of optical fibers, what I have for u today is AN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WITHOUT FIBERS. Free space optics or FSO Although it only recently and rather suddenly sprang in to public awareness, free space optics is not a new idea. It has roots that back over 30 years-to the era before fiber optic cable became the preferred transport medium for high speed communication. FSO technology has been revived to offer high band width last mile connectivity for todays converged network requirements.

Free space optical communication or FSO, free space photonics or optical wireless, refers to the transmission of modulated visible or infrared beams through the atmosphere to obtain optical communication. FSO systems can function over distances of several kilometers. FSO is a line-ofsight technology, which enables optical transmission up to 2.5 Gbps of data, voice and video communications, allowing optical connectivity without deploying fiber optic cable or securing spectrum licenses. Free space optics require light, which can be focused by using either light emitting diodes (LED) or LASERS(light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). The use of lasers is a simple concept similar to optical transmissions using fiber-optic cables, the only difference being the medium. . As long as there is a clear line of sight between the source and the destination and enough transmitter power, communication is possible virtually at the speed of light. Because light travels through air faster than it does through glass, so it is fair to classify FSO as optical communications at the speed of light. FSO works on the same basic principle as infrared television remote controls, wireless keyboards or wireless palm devices.

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History
It is said that optical communication was first used in the 8th century by the Greeks. They used fire as the light source, the atmosphere as the transmission medium and human eye as receiver. Later Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter conducted experiments on optical wireless communication in the late 19th centaury . Bells FSO experiment 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. Although Bells photo phone never became a commercial reality , it demonstrated the basic principle of optical communications. Essentially all of the engineering of todays FSO or free space optical communication systems was done over the past 40 years or so mostly for defense applications. The Photophone used crystalline selenium cells at the focal point of its parabolic receiver. This material's electrical resistance varies inversely with the illumination falling upon it, i.e., its resistance is higher when it is in the dark, and lower when it is exposed to light. The idea of the Photophone was thus to modulate a light beam: the resulting varying illumination of the receiver would induce a corresponding varying resistance in the selenium cells, which was then used to regenerate the sounds captured by the telephone receiver. The modulation of the transmitted light beam was done by a mirror made to vibrate by a person's voice: the thin mirror would alternate between concave and convex forms, thus focusing or dispersing the light from the light source.The Photophone functioned similarly to the telephone, except that the Photophone used modulated light as a means of transmitting information, while the telephone relied on a modulated electrical signal carried over a conductive wire circuit.

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How does FSO work ?

The concept behind FSO is simple. FSO uses a directed beam of light radiation between two end points to transfer information (data, voice or even video). This is similar to OFC (optical fiber cable) networks, except that light pulses are sent through free air instead of OFC cores. An FSO unit consists of an optical transceiver with a laser transmitter and a receiver to provide full duplex (bi-directional) capability. Each FSO unit uses a high power optical source ( laser ) plus a lens that transmits light through the atmosphere to another lens receiving information. The receiving lens connects to a high sensitivity receiver via optical fiber. Two FSO units can take the optical connectivity to a maximum of 4kms.

The concept of transmitting information through the air by means of a modulated light signal is quite old; and although significant advances have been made over the past 10 years, the concept remains relatively simple: a narrow beam of light is launched at a transmission station, transmitted through the atmosphere, and subsequently received at the receive station. The advances, which have led to what we now refer to as free-space optical communications, or FSO, have come about in response to a need for greater bandwidth and improved communications systems. Inasmuch as FSO and fiber-optic transmission systems use similar infrared (IR) wavelengths of light and have similar transmission bandwidth capabilities, FSO is often referred to as fiberless optics or optical wireless transmission . Furthermore, given the fact that the optical spectrum is unlicensed with frequencies of the order of hundreds of terahertz, most FSO systems use simple ONOFF keying (OOK) as a modulation format, the same standard modulation technique that is used in digital fiberoptics systems.

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Electromagnetic Spectrum :

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Modulation Scheme :
As we now know that the optical spectrum is unlicensed with frequencies of the order of hundreds of terahertz, most FSO systems use simple ONOFF keying (OOK) as a modulation format, the same standard modulation technique that is used in digital fiberoptics systems, wherein data are typically transmitted in a digital format with light ON representing a 1 and light OFF representing a 0. This simple modulation scheme allows FSO systems to be desiged as bandwidth and protocol transparent physical layer connection.
For OOK, the exact wavelength of the carrier and its phase are irrelevant for the demodulation. The receiver just directly detects the currently incoming power and compare it against a certain level. OOK is sensitive to amplitude distortion (fading) and propagation through different routes, while the second one is negligible for clear-sky conditions. Atmospheric obscuration e.g. in clouds can lead to signicant attenuation of the received signal but is less important for FSO systems operating under clear-sky conditions.

There are three ways to realize the on-off keying modulation, including

(1) NRZ coding

(2)NRZI coding

(3) RZ coding

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TRANSMISSION
Generally, all of todays commercially available FSO systems operate in the near-IR wavelength range between roughly 750 and 1600 nm, with one or two systems being developed to operate at the IR wavelength of 10,000 nm. The physics and transmission properties of optical energy as it travels through the atmosphere are similar throughout the visible and the near-IR wavelength range.

The modulated light source, which is typically a laser or light-emitting diode (LED), provides the transmitted optical signal and determines all the transmitter capabilities of the system. Only the detector sensitivity plays an equally important role in total system performance. For telecommunication purposes, only lasers that are capable of being modulated at 20 Mbit/s to 2.5 Gbit/s can meet current marketplace demands. In addition, how the device is modulated and how much modulated power is produced are both important to the selection of a device. Lasers in the 780925-nm and 15251580-nm spectral bands meet frequency requirements and are available. Although other operating wavelengths are used in commercial FSO systems,which lasers that operate in the 850- and 1550-nm wavelength bands. FSO systems should have the following characteristics: Ability to operate at higher power levels (important for longer-distance FSO systems). High-speed modulation (important for high-speed FSO systems). Low power consumption (important for overall system design and maintenance). Ability to operate over a wide temperature range without major performance degradation (important for outdoor systems). Mean time between failure (MTBF) that exceeds 10 yr.

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APPLICATIONS OF FSO
Optical communication systems are becoming more and more popular as the interest and requirement in high capacity and long distance space communications grow. FSO overcomes the last mile access bottleneck by sending high bitrate signals through the air using laser transmission. Applications of FSO system is many and varied but a few can be listed. 1. Metro Area Network ( MAN ): FSO network can close the gap between the last mile customers, there by providing access to new customers to high speed MANs resulting to Metro Network extension. 2. Last Mile Access : End users can be connected to high speed links using FSO. It can also be used to bypass local loop systems to provide business with high speed connections. 3. Enterprise connectivity : As FSO links can be installed with ease, they provide a natural method of interconnecting LAN segments that are housed in buildings separated by public streets or other right-of-way property. 4. Fiber backup : FSO can also be deployed in redundant links to backup fiber in place of a second fiber link. 5. Backhaul : FSO can be used to carry cellular telephone traffic from antenna towers back to facilities wired into the public switched telephone network. 6. Service acceleration : instant services to the customers before fiber being layed.

Advantages :
1. Straight forward deployment-as it requires no licenses. 2. Rapid time of deployment. 3. Low initial investment. 4. Ease of installation even indoors in less than 30 minutes. 5. Security and freedom from irksome regulations like roof top rights and spectral licenses. 6. Re-deployability. 7. High Data rates upto 2.5 Gbps at present and 10 Gbps in the future.

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Free Space Optical Technology in Communication Network

Free-space optics technology (FSO) has several applications in communications networks, where a connectivity gap exists between two or more points. FSO technology delivers costeffective optical wireless connectivity. With the ever-increasing demand for greater bandwidth by Enterprise and Mobile Carrier subscribers comes a critical need for FSO-based products for a balance of throughput, distance and availability. During the last few years, customer deployments of FSO-based products have grown. Here are some of the primary network uses: Enterprise: Because of the scalability and flexibility of FSO technology, optical wireless products can be deployed in many enterprise applications including building-to-building connectivity, and temporary connectivity for applications such as data, voice and data, video services, medical imaging. Mobile Carrier Base Station Hotelling FSO-based products can be used to expand Mobile Carrier Network footprints through base station hoteling. By deploying the Base Station Hoteling architecture, carriers can centralize basestation equipment and rapidly deploy antennas where coverage and capacity issues exist. Digivance then transports wideband RF via digital optical signals over fiber or free space optics to economically expand coverage and capacity. This also solves the difficult challenge of covering entire buildings or campus facilities. With the installation of this low-cost, high-quality solution, wireless carriers can quickly and cost-effectively deliver coverage to corporate facilities and other buildings where mobile users demand service.

This FSO technology approach has a number of advantages: Requires no RF spectrum licensing. Is easily upgradeable, and its open interfaces support equipment from a variety of vendors, which helps enterprises and service providers protect their investment in embedded telecommunications infrastructures. Requires no security software upgrades. Is immune to radio frequency interference or saturation. Can be deployed behind windows, eliminating the need for costly rooftop rights.

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CURRENT LIMITATIONS OF FSO

FOG AND FSO Fog substantially attenuates visible radiation, and it has a similar affect on the near-infrared wavelengths that are employed in FSO systems. Rain and snow have little affect on FSO. Fog being microns in diameter, it hinder the passage of light by absorption, scattering and reflection. Dealing with fog which is known as Mie scattering, is largely a matter of boosting the transmitted power. In areas of heavy fogs 1550nm lasers can be of more are. Fog can be countered by a network design with short FSO link distances. FSO installation in foggy cities like san Francisco have successfully achieved carrier-class reliability.

PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTIONS Flying birds can temporarily block a single beam, but this tends to cause only short interruptions and transmissions are easily and automatically re-assumed. Multi-beam systems are used for better performance.

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SCINTILLATION Scintillation refers the variations in light intensity caused by atmospheric turbulence. Such turbulence may be caused by wind and temperature gradients which results in air pockets of varying diversity act as prisms or lenses with time varying properties. This scintillation affects on FSO can be tackled by multi beam approach exploiting multiple regions of space- this approach is called spatial diversity.

SOLAR INTERFERENCE This can be combated in two ways. The first is a long pass optical filter window used to block all wavelengths below 850nm from entering the system. The second is an optical narrow band filter proceeding the receive detector used to filter all but the wavelength actually used for intersystem communications.

SCATTERING Scattering is caused when the wavelength collides with the scatterer. The physical size of the scatterer determines the type of scattering. When the scatterer is smaller than the wavelength-Rayleigh scattering. When the scatterer is of comparable size to the wavelength Mie scattering. When the scatterer is much larger than the wavelength -Non-selective scattering In scattering there is no loss of energy, only a directional redistribution of energy which may cause reduction in beam intensity for longer distance.

This is a free space optics laser link The receptor is the large disc in the middle and the transmitter the smaller ones

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Analysis With Radio Frequency :

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Current developments in FSO

Development and vendor selections are underway for an Optical Satellite System (OSS) from Laser Light Communications (Laser Light) that is anticipated to be deployed in Q1 2017 and operational by the middle of 2017. The free-space optical (FSO) communications network-what is believed to be the world's first commercial satellite communications constellation based entirely on optical wave technology--is to be comprised of 12 satellites (8 primary and 4 spares) in medium Earth orbit (10,500 km) with an operating system capacity of 4.8 Tbps, including satellite-to-satellite optical crosslinks and satellite-to-ground optical up/down links of 200 Gbps, without reliance on the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.

Conclusion
Presently we are faced with a burgeoning demand for high bandwidth and differentiated data services. Network traffic doubles every 9-12 months forcing the bandwidth or data storing capacity to grow and keep pare with this increase. The right solution for the pressing demand is the untapped bandwidth potential of optical communications. Optical communications are in the process of evolving Giga bits/sec to terabits/sec and eventually to pentabits/sec. The explosion of internet and internet based applications has fuelled the bandwidth requirements.
Business applications have grown out of the physical boundaries of the enterprise and gone wide area linking remote vendors, suppliers, and customers in a new web of business applications. Hence companies are looking for high bandwidth last mile options. The high initial cost and vast time required for installation in case of OFC speaks for a wireless technology for high bandwidth last mile connectivity there FSO finds its place. Though not very popular in India at the moment, FSO has a tremendous scope for deployment companies like CISCO, LIGHT POIN few other have made huge investment to promote this technology in the market. It is only a matter of time before the customers realized, the benefits of FSO and the technology deployed in large scale.

Free Space Optical Communication has some limitation to be covered before it could be utilized in a full fledged basis. But with the growing need for speed and connectivity the futre stands with FSO as the ultimate option available fulfilling these needs.

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Biblography :
Introduction to free space optical communication Hennes Henniger www.fsona.com www.freespaceoptics.com http://www.lightpointe.com/

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