CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 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 low-loss 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 or in other words WIRE FREE OPTICS. 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 90 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. Mention optical communication and most people think of fiber optics. But light travels through air for a lot less money. So it is hardly a surprise that clever entrepreneurs and technologists are borrowing many of the devices and techniques developed for fiberoptic systems and applying them to what some call fiber-free optical communication. Although it only recently, and rather suddenly, sprang into public awareness, free-space optics is not a new idea. It has roots that go back over 30 years--to the era before fiber-optic cable became the preferred transport medium for high-speed communication. In those days, the notion that FSO systems could provide high-speed connectivity over short distances seemed futuristic, to say the least. But research done at that time has made possible today's free-space optical systems, which can carry full-duplex (simultaneous bidirectional) data at gigabit-per-second rates over metropolitan distances of a few city blocks to a few kilometers.

FSO first appeared in the 60's, for military applications. At the end of 80's, it appeared as a commercial option but technological restrictions prevented it from success. Low reach transmission, low capacity, severe alignment problems as well as vulnerability to weather interferences were the major drawbacks at that time. The optical communication without wire, however, evolved! Today, FSO systems guarantee 2.5 Gb/s taxes with carrier class availability. Metropolitan, access and LAN networks are reaping the benefits. FSO success can be measured by its market numbers: forecasts predict it will reach a USS 2.5 billion market by 2006. The use of free space optics is particularly interesting when we perceive that the majority of customers does not possess access to fibers as well as fiber installation is expensive and demands long time. Moreover, right-of-way costs, difficulties in obtaining government licenses for new fiber installation etc. are further problems that have turned FSO into the option of choice for short reach applications. FSO uses lasers, or light pulses, to send packetized data in the terahertz (THz) spectrum range. Air, ot fiber, is the transport medium. This means that urban businesses needing fast data and Internet access have a significantly lower-cost option. An FSO system for local loop access comprises several laser terminals, each one residing at a network node to create a single, point-to-point link; an optical mesh architecture; or a star topology, which is usually point-to-multipoint. These laser terminals, or nodes, are installed on top of customers' rooftops or inside a window to complete the lastmile connection. Signals are beamed to and from hubs or central nodes throughout a city or urban area. Each node requires a Line-Of-Sight (LOS) view of the hub. Free space optics (FSO) has been used for more than a decade as a short/medium distance point-to-point (building-to-building) connectivity solution in campus enterprise LAN markets. The license free nature of this technology combined with its high-speed bandwidth capabilities, comparable to optical fiber, allow network administrators to interconnect LAN segments at real networking speeds (e.g. 100 Mbps or 1000 Mbps) without the hastle of digging to install optical fiber. Since digging to install fiber is typically a very expensive and time-consuming process, the value proposition of using FSO can be very appealing. Only recently has the carrier market started to look into FSO technology as

an alternative network connectivity solution. However, when considering the carrier market, the requirements in terms of component reliability and overall weather related system availability is much more stringent than system requirements in the enterprise market. This paper addresses some of the issues that are most important in the design of an overall carrier system architecture. Briefly described are the basic physics of transmission at various short and long infrared wavelengths and their overall impact on the system design. This is followed by an overview of basic transmitter and detector technologies. When selecting suitable components, reliability and commercial availability of those components should play an important factor. Eye safety is another factor that has to be taken into consideration in a carrier class system design. Finally, the link budget will determine the overall system availability under various weather conditions. This aspect is discussed near the close of this document. 1.2 FSO - FREE SPACE OPTICS Free space optics 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-of-sight 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.

FSO technology is implemented using a laser device .These laser devices or terminals can be mounted on rooftops, Corners of buildings or even inside offices behind windows. FSO devices look like security video cameras. Low-power infrared beams, which do not harm the eyes, are the means by which free-space optics technology transmits data through the air between transceivers, or link heads, mounted on rooftops or behind windows. It works over distances of several hundred meters to a few kilometers, depending upon atmospheric conditions. Commercially available free-space optics equipment provides data rates much higher than digital subscriber lines or coaxial cables can ever hope to offer. And systems even faster than the present range of 10 Mb/s to 1.25 Gb/s have been announced, though not yet delivered. Generally the equipment works at one of two wavelengths: 850 nm or 1550 nm. Lasers for 850 nm are much less expensive (around $30 versus more than $1000) and are therefore favored for applications over moderate distances. But a 1550 nm lasers are also used. The main reasons revolve around power, distance, and eye safety. Infrared radiation at 1550 nm tends not to reach the retina of the eye, being mostly absorbed by the cornea. Regulations accordingly allow these longer-wavelength beams to operate at higher power than the 850-nm beams, by about two orders of magnitude. That power increase can boost link lengths by a factor of at least five while maintaining adequate signal strength for proper link operation. Alternatively, it can boost data rate considerably over the same length of link. So for high data rates, long distances, poor propagation conditions (like fog), or combinations of those conditions, 1550 nm can become quite attractive. As the differences in laser prices suggest, such systems are quite a bit more expensive than 850-nm links. An 850-nm transceiver can cost as little as $5000 (for a 10100-Mb/s unit spanning a few hundred meters), while a 1550-nm unit can go for $50 000 (for gigabit-per-second setups encompassing a kilometer or two). Air fiber, a major FSO vendor, says it can get a link up and running within two to three days at one-third to one-tenth the cost of fiber (about $20,000 per building). FSO is not only cost-effective and easy to deploy but also fast. The technology is not for everyone.

A major reason companies might not adopt FSO is its confinement to urban areas. FSO deployments must be located relatively close to big hubs, which means only customers in major cities will be eligible-at least initially. Businesses in more remote locations are out of luck, unless a provider sets up hubs in their area, wh ich seems like a distant reality right now. When fiber was compared with free-space optics, deployment costs for service to the three buildings worked out to $396 500 versus $59 000, respectively. The fiber cost was calculated on a need for 1220 meters: 530 meters of trunk fiber from the CLEC's central office to its hub in the office park plus an average of 230 meters of feeder fiber for each of the runs from the hub to a target building, all at $325 per meter. Free-space optics is calculated as $18 000 for free-space optics equipment per building and $5000 for installation. Supposing a 15 percent annual revenue increase for future sales and customer acquisition, the internal rate of return for fiber over five years is 22 percent versus 196 percent for free-space optics. 1.3 RELEVANCE OF FSO IN PRESENT DAY COMMUNICATION

Presently we are facing 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 pace 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.

1.3.1Ultra high bandwidth: The laser systems operate in the terahertz frequency spectrum and usually operate in the 194 THz or 375 THz range. Their performance is comparable to the best fibre optic system available, giving speeds between 622 Mbps and 1.25 Gbps. This technology uses devices and techniques developed for fibre optic systems. 1.4 RAPID DEPLOYMENT TIME: Installing a FSO system can be done in a matter of days even faster if the gear can be placed in offices behind windows instead of on rooftops. A fiber based competitor has to seek municipal approval to dig up a street to lay its cable. Unlike most of the lower frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, the part above 300 GHz is unlicensed worldwide. So no extra time is needed to obtain right-of-way permits or trench up the streets or to obtain FCC frequency licenses. 1.5 ORIGIN OF FSO It is said that this mode of communication was first used in the 8 th century by the Greeks. They used fire as the light source, the atmosphere as the transmission medium and human eye as receiver. FSO or optical wireless communication by Alexander Graham Bell in the late 19 th centaury even before his telephone! 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.

1.6 THE TECHNOLOGY OF FSO 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.

CHAPTER 2

WORKING OF FSO SYSTEM

2.1 INTRODUCTION Optical systems work in the infrared or near infrared region of light and the easiest way to visualize how the work is imagine, two points interconnected with fiber optic cable and then remove the cable. The infrared carrier used for transmitting the signal is generated either by a high power LED or a laser diode. Two parallel beams are used, one for transmission and one for reception, taking a standard data, voice or video signal, converting it to a digital format and transmitting it through free space. Todays modern laser system provide network connectivity at speed of 622 Mega bits/sec and beyond with total reliability. The beams are kept very narrow to ensure that it does not interfere with other FSO beams. The receive detectors are either PIN diodes or avalanche photodiodes. The FSO transmits invisible eye safe light beams from transmitter to the receiver using low power infrared lasers in the tera hertz spectrum. FSO can function over kilometers. 2.1.1 WAVELENGTH:Currently available FSO hardware is of two types based on the operating wavelength 800 nm and 1550 nm. 1550 FSO systems are selected because of more eye safety, reduced solar background radiation and compatibility with existing technology infrastructure. 2.1.2 SUBSYSTEM:Data in Modulator Driver Laser Transmit optic

Data out DeModulator

preamplifier detector

Receive optic

preamplifier Special detector Servo systems

Tracking optic

Processor

Fig 2.1.1 Subsystem Of Fso

In the transmitting section, the data is given to the modulator for modulating signal and the driver is for activating the laser. In the receiver section the optical signal is detected and it is converted to electrical signal, preamplifier is used to amplify the signal and then given to demodulator for getting original signal. Tracking system which determines the path of the beam and there is special detector (CCD, CMOS) for detecting the signal and given to pre amplifier. The servo system is used for controlling system, the signal coming from the path to the processor and compares with the environmental condition, if there is any change in the signal then the servo system is used to correct the signal. 2.2 FSO TRANSMITTER:-

To ensure the highest performance of an FSO system, it is important to choose a transmission wavelength within one of the two atmospheric windows that coincide with one of the fiber optics transmission windows. Within these two wavelength windows, namely 850 nm and 1550 nm, a suitable transmitter for a telecommunication grade FSO system must have the following characteristics: Operation at higher power levels (Important for longer distance FSO systems) Favorable high-speed modulation characteristics (Important for high speed FSO systems) Components small in footprint and low in power consumption (Important for the overall system design and system maintenance) Capability to operate over a wide temperature range without showing major performance decay or degradation (Important for outdoor system installation) Mean time between failure (MTBF) operation exceeding 10 years

For these reasons manufacturers offering carrier-class FSO equipment generally use Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) in the shorter infrared wavelength range and Fabry Perot (FP) or Distributed Feed Back (DFB) lasers for operation in the
longer infrared wavelength range.

Fig 2.1.2 Different Types Of Fso Transmitter

Aside from general availability of high-quality components and efficient transmission window, there are several laser types that, for a variety of reasons, are not very well suited to FSO systems. At the current stage of development of these sources, solidstate lasers (e.g. YdYag lasers operating at 1060 nm) or any form of gas-based lasers fall within this category. Indeed, the majority of high power lasers operating in the near infrared spectral range cannot fulfill the MTBF requirements of carrier-grade systems. For example, high power GaAlAs lasers operating slightly beyond 800 nm or slightly above 900 nm, though generally available from many vendors and at very low cost, do not normally qualify as telecommunication grade due to insufficient MTBF values. 2.3 FSO RECEIVER At the receiver detectors are present. Detectors are used to convert the light signal into electrical signal. Detector choices are much more limited when compared to the variety of wavelength options available. This is due to vast amounts of different semiconductor laser compound structures. The two most common material systems used to detect light in the near infrared spectral range are either silicon (Si) or indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). Detectors are based either on PIN or APD technology. A thorough discussion of these technologies is not within the scope of this paper. More detailed information on PIN and

APD technology and their use in FSO systems can be found in the book Free Space Optics: Enabling Optical Connectivity in Todays Networks authored by H. Willebrand and B. Ghuman and published by Sams Publishing.

Fig 2.2 Fso Receiver Silicon is the most commonly used detector material in the visible and near infrared wavelength range. Silicon technology is very mature and silicon receivers can detect extremely low levels of light. Detectors based on silicon typically have a sensitivity maximum or spectral response around 850 nm. Therefore silicon detectors are ideal candidates for light detection in conjunction with short wavelength 850 nm VCSEL laser. Silicon drastically loses sensitivity toward the longer infrared wavelength spectrum; for wavelengths beyond 1 micrometer. 1100 nanometers defines the cutoff wavelength for potential light detection and therefore silicon cannot be used as detector material beyond this range. Silicon detectors can operate at very high bandwidth. Recently, operation at 10 Gbps has been commercialized for use in short wavelength 850 nm 10 GbE systems. Lower bandwidth (1 Gbps) silicon PIN and APD detectors are widely available in a variety of mechanical packages such as TO-46 cans. Very common are also Si-PIN detectors with integrated trans-impedance amplifiers (TIA). The sensitivity of which is a function of the signal modulation bandwidth decreasing as bandwidth increases. Typical sensitivity values for a Si-

PIN diode are around 34 decibel mill watts (dBm) at 155 megabits per second (Mbps). Si-APDs are far more sensitive due to an internal amplification (avalanche) process. Therefore Si-APD detectors are very useful for low light level detection in free space optics systems. Sensitivity values for higher bandwidth applications can be as low as 50dBm at 10 Mbps, -45dBm at 155 Mbps, or 38 dBm at 622 Mbps. Silicon detectors can be quite large in size (e.g. 0.2 x 0.2 mm) and still operate at higher bandwidths. This feature minimizes loss when light is focused on the detector by using either a larger diameter lens or a reflective parabolic mirror. For longer wavelength radiation, InGaAs is the most commonly used detector material. The performance of InGaAs detectors has been constantly improved in terms of sensitivity and bandwidth capabilities as well as the development of 1550 nm fiber optic technology. The vast majority of longer wavelength fiber optics systems use InGaAs as detector material. Commercially InGaAs detectors are either optimized for operation at 1310 or 1550 nm. Due to the drastic decrease in sensitivity towards the shorter wavelength range, InGaAs detectors are typically not used in the 850 nm wavelength range. The main benefit of InGaAs detectors is higher bandwidth capability. The majority of InGaAs receivers are based on PIN or PIN-TIA technology. Typical sensitivity values for InGaAs Pin diodes are similar to those of Si-PIN diodes (e.g. 33dBm at 155 Mbps). InGaAs diodes operating at higher speed are typically smaller in size than Si-PIN diodes. This is because most high-speed Inga As receivers are designed for fiber optic transmission in conjunction with 9micrometer core diameter, single mode (SM) fiber, and the small SM core diameter doesnt require a large detection surface. This makes the light coupling process a more challenging task and overall losses that occur when the light is coupled from freespace onto the detector surface are higher, thus impacting the link budget of the systems. The conclusion is that both Si and InGaAs detectors are capable of fulfilling the stringent service provider systems standard requirement since both detector technologies are already used in carrier class fiber optic communication systems. 2.4 A SIMPLE PROPAGATION MODEL LINK EQUATION When taking a closer look at an FSO performance, it is important to take several system parameters into consideration. In general, these parameters can be divided into two different categories: internal parameters and external parameters (see Fig. 6).

Internal parameters are related to the design of a specific FSO system and can be impacted by the system designer or engineer. Examples are: optical power, transmission bandwidth or divergence angle on the transmitter side and receiver sensitivity, receive lens diameter or receiver field-of-view on the receive side. Other important parameters that determine system performance are related to external or non-system specific parameters and all of them are related to the climate under which the system has to operate. Typical examples are the deployment distance and visibility.

Fig2.3 Schematic explanation of internal and external FSO system design parameters. It is important to understand that many of these parameters are linked and not independent of each other. Two examples: 1) System availability is not only a function of the deployment distance but also a function of the inherent atmospheric attenuation coefficient and 2) Increasing the modulation bandwidth on the transmitter side will impact the sensitivity figure and the BER performance of the receiver side. In general, the focus on the improvement of one system parameter (e.g. increase of transmission power) does not lead to an overall improved system performance. The next section demonstrates that the ability to launch a high amount of power is certainly beneficial within the overall link budget calculation. However, it becomes obvious that simply launching higher power levels will not automatically result in a better performing FSO system. Many other factors have to be considered. These factors can actually outperform the advantage of being able to launch higher power levels. A professional FSO system designer must balance all of these parameters. Under the assumption that the transmission source can be seen as a point source, the simple link equation (1) below shows the impact of various system

parameters on the power received at the receiving station. The climate/weather impact on FSO system availability is solely contained in the last part of the equation. In particular, and as can be easily seen from this equation, the value of the atmospheric extinction coefficient is extremely important due to the exponential dependency on the receive power level.

2.5 ALIGNMENT IN FSO:In free-space optical communication using narrow laser beams, it is required to maintain the optical alignment between the stations in spite of their relative motion. This relative motion is caused by the mobile nature of the stations, mechanical vibration, or accidental shocks. In order to establish and maintain a free-space optical link, a two-phase optical alignment mechanism is required. In the first phase, a coarse alignment is achieved through the openloop operation of spatial acquisition. Following the coarse alignment phase, data transmission is established and simultaneously a closed-loop fine alignment operation is performed to precisely compensate for the persistent relative motion of the stations. A possible scheme to achieve this fine alignment is cooperative (reciprocal) optical beam tracking. A cooperative optical beam tracking system consists of two stations in such a manner that each station points its optical beam toward the other one. The receiving station continuously measures the arrival direction of its incident optical beam in order to employ it as a guide to precisely point its own beam toward the other station. In short range applications with negligible light propagation delay, this direction is approximately along the line-of-sight of the stations, thus the stations transmit their optical beams along this measured direction. In applications with a large propagation delay, the optical beams must be transmitted within a certain angle with respect to the arrival direction in order to compensate for the variation of the line-of-sight during the travel time of the transmitted beams. This requires the transmitter to predict the future location of the receiver and point its optical beam toward the predicted location. To implement the alignment scheme above, the stations are equipped with a position-sensitive photo detector (e.g., quadrant detector) and a focusing lens (or an arrangement of curved mirrors) to measure the azimuth and

elevation components of the beam arrival direction. In addition, each station employs an electromechanical pointing assembly to adjust the direction of its optical devices according to the control signals provided by a closed-loop controller. The controller incorporates the output of the position-sensitive photo detector and generates proper azimuth and elevation control signals. As an alternative (or complement) to adjusting the transceiver direction, the incoming and outgoing optical fields can be directed using an arrangement of steerable flat mirrors. The goal of this chapter is to develop a mathematical model for a cooperative optical beam tracking system, which includes the nonlinear effects, major disturbance sources, and light propagation delay. For analyzing the optical alignment between two fast maneuvering stations (e.g. aircrafts), the nonlinearity of the dynamical equations is essential; however, in applications such as intersatellite communication in which the relative motion consists of a predetermined large component and an unknown small component, we can linearize the nonlinear dynamics around a nominal state trajectory.

Fig 2.4 Schematic Diagram Of A Simple Optical Receiver In the last section, we shall describe the relative motion of the stations by means of a set of stochastic differential equations. This stochastic model will be used for a stochastic analysis of the system, as an alternative to the deterministic approach of System Architecture. In this

section, we first consider the structure and components of an optical transceiver and then describe the operation of a cooperative optical beam tracking system which employs two transceivers of this type. 2.5.1 TRANSCEIVER STRUCTURE:A schematic diagram of a simple transceiver used in short range free-space optical links is illustrated in Fig. This transceiver comprises a lens, a position-sensitive photo detector, and a narrow laser source, all installed on a rigid platform. The photo detector surface is perpendicular to the lens axis and its center is placed at the focus of the lens. The axes of the lens and the laser source are parallel to transceiver axis. The azimuth and elevation of the transceiver axis can be controlled by means of an electromechanical pointing assembly, which is mounted on the station body. The optical beam generated by the laser source is used for two purposes: as a carrier of information and as a beacon assisting the opposite station in its tracking and pointing operations. For the purpose of communication, the instantaneous laser power is modulated by the information-bearing signal, usually with a digital form of on-off-keying. The position-sensitive photo detector is a photoelectron converter whose surface is partitioned into small regions. The output of each region counts the number of converted electrons regardless of their location on the region. The photoelectron conversion rate depends on the instantaneous optical power absorbed by the region. The image of the received optical field on the surface of the photo detector is a spot of light with a bell-shaped intensity pattern whose location depends on the angle of arrival of the optical field with respect to the transceiver axis. Hence, using the position-sensitive photo detector, this angle can be tracked by measuring the location of the spot of light. Many practical optical beam tracking systems employ a quadrant detector1 as their optical sensing device, while the low spatial resolution of a quadrant detector can be improved using a finer partition. For instance, the authors of describe a beam tracking system which employs a photo detector with 512 512 pixels. The pointing assembly is usually a two-axes gimballed system with two independent motor which control the azimuth and elevation of the transceiver. Gimballed pointing systems generally suffer from low bandwidth (in order of 10 Hz) and low slew rate, while being able to cover a large solid angle. Also, they have the disadvantage of being singular at certain points, which limits their coverage region. To resolve this difficulty, Omni-Wrist III is an alternative antenna pointer with double universal joints and linear actuators, which has 2

steradian range of motion without singularity. A more sophisticated transceiver design, used for intersatellite communication, is illustrated in Figure. This design employs a position-sensitive photo detector, a pointing assembly, and a laser source; however, instead of a lens, it employs a reflecting telescope. The telescope which is shared between the receiving and the transmitting optics, consists of a primary and a secondary curved mirror with one of the several common designs. The most popular design, Cassegrainian telescope, employs a parabolic primary mirror and a hyperbolic secondary mirror which share the same focus. In addition to the telescope, an arrangement of lenses might be used for extra magnification. In design of the transceiver, the incoming and outgoing optical fields must be isolated as much as possible, since the backscattered photons caused by the outgoing light emerge as a source of noise for the photo detector. This can be achieved by a combination of spectral isolation, spatial separation, and polarization isolation.

Fig 2.5 optical transreceiver for inter satellite communication . In the situations that these techniques cannot provide enough isolation, two separated telescopes are required for the incoming and the outgoing optical beams while this dual telescope approach leaves the tracking function of the transceiver unchanged. The tracking mirror in Figure is intended to control the direction of the incoming light toward the position-sensitive photo detector and the outgoing

light toward the target. This steerable flat mirror, which is equipped with miniature actuators, provides a complementary (or alternative) means for the pointing assembly. The steering machinery consists of a support plate with a single pivot and three or four piezoelectric linear actuators (fast steering mirror). Although, the scanning region of a steerable mirror is small (less than 5 degrees in each direction), its small mass and fast actuators result in a high bandwidth (up to 1 kHz) and high slew rate. This provides considerable assistance to the pointing assembly in suppressing the high bandwidth disturbance. The point-ahead mirror is another steerable flat mirror with the purpose of compensating for the displacement of the receiver during light propagation time. This mirror provides an additional degree of freedom in controlling the pointing direction of the outgoing light. 2.6 FINE ANGULAR POINTING, ACQUISITION, AND TRACKING SYSTEMS:The goal of the FPAT system is to complete the link, which implies that the alignment procedure must take the received power into consideration. Also, the FSO system, incorporated with the FPAT system, must be compact enough to be carried by the actuator of the CPAT system. These two conditions make the spatial scan method the best candidate, because this method (1) determines the orientation of the targets from the same light ray that carries the information bits and (2) can be easily incorporated into a traditional transceiver. Pointing, acquisition, and tracking systems have been successfully implemented in many applications ranging from short-distance cases such as human motion track-ing to long distance applications such as missile guidance systems. Different applications may adapt different principles of operation into the PAT system design. Rolland et.al reviewed these techniques and further classified them into seven categories including time of light (TOF), spatial scan, inertial sensing, mechanical linkages, phasedifference sensing, direct-field sensing, and hybrid methods. Among these techniques, the spatial scan method, which is based on analyzing the incoming light ray to determine the orientation of a target, is the best match to the capabilities of an FSO system. The sensor of the spatial scan method is usually a combination of a front-end optical system and a position sensing diode(PSD), including coupled charge detectors (CCD), quadrant detectors (QD), and lateral effect detectors (LEP). The CCD-based sensor can simultaneously measure the

incident angles for multiple rays, whereas the QD-based and LEP-based sensor can only measure the angle of one ray. 2.6.1 ENHANCED FSO TRANSCEIVERS:An FSO transceiver consists of a transmitter and a receiver to achieve duplex transmission. The data in the transmitter is rst modulated onto an optical carrier, typically a laser, then the laser beam is collimated through an optical system, and finally transmitted as an optical field into the atmospheric channel. In order to comply with the PAT requirement, beam steering capability must be incorporated into the design, which converts a simple transmitter into a beam steerer. Gibson categorized the fine laser beam steering systems into (1) mechanical and (2) non-mechanical. Mechanical Beam steerers have advantages in their large steering range and inexpensive design. Non-mechanical beam steerers are useful for eliminating potentially bulky mechanical components and can have a high pointing accuracy. At the receiver, the arriving optical is collected through an optical front-end and projected onto a photodiode for signal detection. For a high-speed FSO application, the power collected from the front-end optics may not be focused onto the photodiode because of pointing errors resulting from turbulence or misalignment. A better strategy is to utilize a PSD to first determine the location of the focused spot and then move the photodiode to optimize the received power using feedback control. An FSO receiver capable of estimating azimuthal and elevation angles is defined as an angular resolver (AR).The combination of the beam steerer and AR enhances the FSO transceiver with fundamental pointing and tracking capability. If the beam steerer and AR are combined such that their optical axes are identical, the resulting transceiver is denoted as mono-static as in figure otherwise it is denoted as bi-static as in figure. Generally, mono-static transceivers suffer from strong interference resulting from strong energy coupled from self-reflection between the forward and backward links. Most mono-static transceivers require additional power-isolation devices (e.g. a polarizing beam splitter) to prevent this effect, called narcissus. 2.6.2 INTRODUCTION TO TRANSCEIVER ALIGNMENT:An FSO link is established if the optical axes of the local/remote beam steerer and the remote/local AR are aligned to the vector connecting between the local/remote beam steerer and remote/local AR, respectively. Since aligning a vector to the other vector

in general takes 2 rotations (one in azimuth and the other in elevation), it requires 4 rotations to complete a link and 8 rotations to develop a duplex channel (2 from each beam steerer and AR). In general, the image position in the local AR is capable of providing only the rotation angles for the local AR which optimizes the received power but not the rotation angles which leads the local beam steerer to the remote AR. Since each link must be aligned individually, we therefore dene this alignment problem as the single alignment problem. The details are depicted in figure If the transceivers are mono-static, and since the optical axes for the local beam steerer and AR are identical, the alignment takes only 4 rotations. Most importantly, the image position in the local AR

Fig 2.6 Schematic diagram of an FSO Transreceiver (a) monostatic (b) bi-static is sufficient to determine the rotation angles for both the AR and beam steerer, which implies that once either one of the two links is built, the other link can be automatically aligned. Such an alignment problem is defined as a coupled alignment problem because the

two links are geometrically related. The details are shown in figure In this work, we propose a scenario where the alignment can still be treated as a coupled alignment problem even though the transceivers are not mono-static.

Fig 2.7 Different alignment problems for a pair of FSO transceivers: (a) Single alignment (between two bi-static transceivers with a short link length), (b) Coupled alignment (between two mono-static transceivers), and (c) Coupled alignment (between two bi-static transceivers with a long link length). In this scenario, once either one of the two links is built, the other link can be formed since the two links are related by a linear mapping, which can be calibrated in advance. Such a scenario takes place if the following inequality is satisfied

where

is the distance from the local AR to the remote beam steerer,

is the

displacement between the local beam steerer and AR, beam steerer, and

is the beam divergence of the

is the angle between the vector T and L. For example,

let us consider a duplex communication channel formed by a into this particular scenario.

Therefore, we can assume that most FSO transceiver alignments are coupled alignment problems that can always be solved in three steps: 1. Apply a scanning process and point the local beam steerer to the remote AR by trial-anderror. 2. Compute the rotation angles for the remote AR and beam steerer according to the focused spot on the remote AR. Point the remote beam steerer back to the local AR. 3. Compute the rotation angles for the local AR and beam steerer according to the focused spot in the local AR. Point the local beam steerer back to the remote AR.

CHAPTER 3 FSO ARCHITECTURES

3.1 POINT-TO-POINT ARCHITECTURE Point-to-point architecture is a dedicated connection that offers higher bandwidth but is less scalable .In a point-to-point configuration, FSO can support speeds between 155Mbits/sec and 10Gbits/sec at a distance of 2 kilometers (km) to 4km. Access claims it can deliver 10Gbits/ sec. Terabeam can provide up to 2Gbits/sec now, while AirFiber and Lightpointe have promised Gigabit Ethernet capabilities sometime in 2001..

Fig point to point architecture 3.2 MESH ARCHITECTURE

3.1

Mesh architectures may offer redundancy and higher reliability with easy node addition but restrict distances more than the other options.

Fig 3.2 Mesh Architecture

A meshed configuration can support 622Mbits/sec at a distance of 200 meters (m) to 450m. TeraBeam claims to have successfully tested 160Gbit/sec speeds in its lab, but such speeds in the real world are surely a year or two off. 3.3 POINT-.TO-MULTIPOINT ARCHITECTURE Point-to-multipoint architecture offers cheaper connections and facilitates node addition but at the expense of lower bandwidth than the point-to-point option.

Fig 3.3 Point-.To-Multipoint Architecture

In a point-to-multipoint arrangement, FSO can support the same speeds as the pointto-point arrangement -155Mbits/sec to 10Gbits/sec-at 1km to 2km.

CHAPTER 4 FREE SPACE OPTICS (FSO) SECURITY

4.1 INTRODUCTION Security is an important element of data transmission, irrespective of the network topology. It is especially important for military and corporate applications. Building a network on the SONA beam platform is one of the best ways to ensure that data transmission between any two points is completely secure. Its focused transmission beam foils jammers and eavesdroppers and enhances security. Moreover, fSONA systems can use any signal-scrambling technology that optical fiber can use. The common perception of wireless is that it offers less security than wire line connections. In fact, Free Space Optics (FSO) is far more secure than RF or other wireless-based transmission technologies for several reasons: 4.2 INFORMATION SECURITY Free Space Optics (FSO) laser beams cannot be detected with spectrum analyzers or RF meters. Free Space Optics (FSO) laser transmissions are optical and travel along a line of sight path that cannot be intercepted easily. It requires a matching Free Space Optics (FSO) transceiver carefully aligned to complete the transmission. Interception is very difficult and extremely unlikely. The laser beams generated by Free Space Optics (FSO) systems are narrow and invisible, making them harder to find and even harder to intercept and crack. Data can be transmitted over an encrypted connection adding to the degree of security available in Free Space Optics (FSO) network transmissions.

CHAPTER 5 TOPOLOGIES USED IN FSO

5.1 TOPOLOGIES:-In free space optics communication system the data transmission is done with the help of different topologies used in computer networking. we can easily communicate two network through free space optics .In networking the physical layer of OSI model is used for communicating between two network. the topologies used in free space optics are as follows :1. Mesh Topology 2. Ring Topology 3. Bus Topology 4. Star Topology

Fig 5.1 Mesh Topology, Star Topology, Bus Topology, Ring Topology in FSO

CHAPTER 6 APPLICATIONS OF FSO

6.1 INTRODUCTION 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 bit rate signals through the air using laser transmission. 6.2 APPLICATIONS Applications of FSO system are 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 laid. 7. Satellite Laser Communication:Fso Is Widely Used In Satellite Communication. It provides Space-to-Ground Lasercom Link.Link distance of communication is approx 2000 km.Its Data Transmission Rate is 1 Gbps.

Fig 6.1 satellite communication using FSO

8. Military Application of FSO :- FSO is very useful in communication between aircraft to aircraft . Its potential for low electromagnetic emanation when transferring sensitive data. Secure communication with submerged submarines.It also very useful in Navigation also.

Fig 6.2 FSO used in Aircraft and Navigation

CHAPTER 7 . MARKET
Telecommunication has seen massive expansion over the last few years. First was the tremendous growth of the optical fiber. Long-haul Wide Area Network (WAN) followed by more recent emphasis on Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN). Meanwhile LAN giga bit Ethernet ports are being deployed with a comparable growth rate. Even then there is pressing demand for speed and high bandwidth. The connectivity bottleneck which refers the imbalance between the increasing demand for high bandwidth by end users and inability to reach them is still an unsolved puzzle. Of the several modes employed to combat this last mile bottleneck, the huge investment is trenching, and the non- redeploy ability of the fiber has made it uneconomical and non-satisfying. Other alternatives like LMDS, a RF technology has its own limitations like higher initial investment, need for roof rights, frequencies, rainfall fading, complex set and high deployment time. In the United States the telecommunication industries 5 percent of buildings are connected to OFC. Yet 75 percent are with in one mile of fiber. Thus FSO offers to the service providers, a compelling alternative for optical connectivity and a complement to fiber optics.

CHAPTER 8 MERITS OF FSO

8.1 INTRODUCTION Known within the industry as free-space optics (FSO), this form of delivering communications services has compelling economic advantages. Free-space systems require less than a fifth the capital outlay of comparable groundbased fiber-optic technologies. Moreover, they can be up and running much more quickly. Installing an FSO system can be done in a matter of days--even faster if the gear can be placed in offices behind windows instead of on rooftops. Using FSO, a service provider can be generating revenue while a fiber-based competitor is still seeking municipal approval to dig up a street to lay its cable. Street trenching and digging are not only expensive, they cause traffic jams (which increase air pollution), displace trees, and sometimes destroy historical areas. For such reasons, some cities, such as Washington, D.C., are considering a moratorium on fiber trenching. Others, like San Francisco, are hoping to limit disruptions by encouraging competing carriers to lay fiber within the same trench at the same time. FSO works in a completely unregulated frequency spectrum (THz), unlike LMDS or MMDS. Because there's little or no traffic currently in this range, the FCC hasn't required licenses above 600GHz. This means FSO isn't likely to interfere with other transmissions. Regulation could come about, however, when and if FSO carriers start to fill up the spectrum. License free frequency band is an advantage of FSO. Cost is one of the major advantage of this technology. Airfiber has prepared a cost model based on deploying an FSO mesh in Boston. According to its analysis, deployment would cost about $20,000 per building, with an average link length of 55 meters and a maximum length of 200 meters. The mesh would also provide full redundancy. A comparable fiber network would run between $50,000 to $200,000 per building.

With FSO, there's also no capital overhang. FSO carriers can avoid heavy build outs by deploying laser terminals after customers have signed on. No heavy capital investments for build out are required. Low risk investment is another advantage of FSO. Another plus is that FSO network architecture needn't be changed when other nodes (buildings) are added; customer capacity can be easily increased by changing the node numbers and configurations. High transmission capacity is an advantage of this technology.

8.2 MERITS OF FSO

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Free space optics offers a flexible networking solution that delivers on the Straight forward deployment-as it requires no licenses. Rapid time of deployment. Low initial investment. Ease of installation even indoors in less than 30 minutes. Security and freedom from irksome regulations like roof top rights and spectral Re-deploy ability. Unlike radio and microwave systems FSO is an optical technology and no

promise of broadband.

licenses.

spectrum licensing or frequency co-ordination with other users is required. Interference from or to other system or equipment is not a concern and the point to point laser signal is extremely difficult to intercept and therefore secure. Data rate comparable to OFC can be obtained with very low error rate and the extremely narrow laser beam which enables unlimited number of separate FSO links to be installed in a given location.

CHAPTER9 FSO CHALLENGES

9.1 INTRODUCTION The advantages of free space optics come without some cost. As the medium is air and the light pass through it, some environmental challenges are inevitable. Despite its potential, FSO has many hurdles to overcome before it will be deployed widely. FSO is an LOS technology, which means nodes must have an unobstructed path to the hub antenna. This, of course, means that interference of any kind can pose problems. Inclement weather is the main threat. Although rain and snow can distort a signal, fog does the most damage to transmission. Fog is composed of extremely small moisture particles that act like prisms upon the light beam, scattering and breaking up the signal. Most vendors know they have to prove reliability in bad weather cities in order to gain carrier confidence, especially if those carriers want to carry voice. So these vendors try to distinguish themselves by running trials in foggy cities. TeraBeam, for example, ran trials in Seattle, figuring if it could make it there, it could make it anywhere. The technology is affected badly by the environmental phenomena that vary widely from one meteorological area to another. Some of them are scattering, scintillations, beam spread and beam wanders. Scintillation is best defined as the temporal and spatial variations in light intensity caused by atmospheric turbulence. Such turbulence is caused by wind and temperature gradients that create pockets of air with rapidly varying densities and therefore fastchanging indices of optical refraction. These air pockets act like prisms and lenses with time-varying properties. Their action is readily observed in the twinkling of stars in the night sky and the shimmering of the horizon on a hot day.

FSO communications systems deal with scintillation by sending the same information from several separate laser transmitters. These are mounted in the same housing, or link head, but separated from one another by distances of about 200 mm. It is unlikely that in traveling to the receiver, all the parallel beams will encounter the same pocket of turbulence since the scintillation pockets are usually quite small. Most probably, at least one of the beams will arrive at the target node with adequate strength to be properly received. This approach is called spatial diversity, because it exploits multiple regions of space. Dealing with fog, more formally known as Mie scattering, is largely a matter of boosting the transmitted power, although spatial diversity also helps to some extent. In areas with frequent heavy fogs, it is often necessary to choose 1550-nm lasers because of the higher power permitted at that wavelength. Also, there seems to be some evidence that Mie scattering is slightly lower at 1550 nm than at 850 nm. However, this assumption has recently been challenged, with some studies implying that scattering is independent of the wavelength under heavy fog conditions. One of the more common difficulties that arises when deploying free-space optics links on tall buildings or towers is sway due to wind or seismic activity. Both storms and earthquakes can cause buildings to move enough to affect beam aiming. The problem can be dealt with in two complementary ways: through beam divergence and active tracking.

With beam divergence, the transmitted beam is purposely allowed to diverge, or spread, so that by the time it arrives at the receiving link head, it forms a fairly large optical cone. Depending on product design, the typical free-space optics light beam subtends an angle of 3-6 mill radians (10-20 minutes of arc) and will have a diameter of 3-6 meters after traveling 1 km. If the receiver is initially positioned at the center of the beam, divergence alone can deal with many perturbations. This inexpensive approach to maintaining system alignment has been used quite successfully by FSO vendors like LightPointe for several years now. If, however, the link heads are mounted on the tops of extremely tall buildings or towers, an active tracking system may be called for. More sophisticated and costly than

beam divergence, active tracking is based on movable mirrors that control the direction in which the beams are launched. A feedback mechanism continuously adjusts the mirrors so that the beams stay on target. Beam wander arises when turbulent eddies bigger than the beam diameter cause slow, but large, displacements of the transmitted beam. It occurs not so much in cities as over deserts over long distances. When it does occur, however, the wandering beam can completely miss its target receiver. Like building sway, beam wander is readily handled by active tracking. 9.2 CHALLENGES OF FSO

(a). FOG
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 effect 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. Fog can be countered by a network design with short FSO link distances. FSO installation in foggy cities like San Francisco has successfully achieved carrier-class reliability.

Fig 9.1 Interruption Of Fog In FSO (b). 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.

(c). 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. Scintillation is one of the effects related to turbulence. Scintillation cannot be characterized using visibility. Turbulence is caused when temperature differentials change the air particle density. Cells or hot pockets of air are created that move randomly in space and time thus also changing the refractive index of the air media. Turbulence affects laser beams propagating through the atmosphere in three different ways. First, beam wander occurs when the refractive index changes and acts like a lens, deflecting the beam from its given path. Second, turbulence results in a beam spread greater than diffraction theory predicts. Third, scintillation or intensity variations (peaks and troughs across the face of the beam) can occur that consequently change the amplitude of the beam at the receiver side. Scintillation mainly causes a sudden increase in BER during very short time intervals (typically less than a second). During hot summer days and around midday and/or in the very early morning hours scintillation effects can be best observed. Depending on the specific system configuration, the variation in the signal strength both in time and across the cross section of the beam can reach levels in signal variation beyond 10 dB. Scintillation can act in both ways: Troughs can cause the signal to disappear, while peaks in amplitude can saturate the detector. Scintillation is distance dependent andin general the system designer has to reserve more link margin for scintillation effects over longer distances. Research has revealed that there are several very successful geometric solutions that can decrease the effect of scintillation significantly. One of these strategies involves the use of multiple transmission beams that are sufficiently separated in space when they leave the transmission aperture plane. In this way they pass through different air (refractive index) cells, experiencing different intensity variations. The variations are averaged out when the

signals are added together at the receiving terminal where they overlap in space. By separating multiple transmitters and by making the receiver optics sufficiently large (or sufficiently separating smaller receiving lenses), different parts of the receiver lenses are illuminated when the beam propagates through different air cells. As a statistical result as this approach signal amplitude variations are averaged out at the receiver. Even though scintillation is not physically correlated with visibility, scintillation under low visibility conditions, usually involving wet, cooler weather, can be neglected. For high visibility conditions that typically occur on hot and sunny days, one has to reserve the maximum loss for scintillation in the link budget analysis.

(d). 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.

(e). 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 re-distribution of energy

which may cause reduction in beam intensity for longer distance. (f). ABSORPTION Absorption occurs when suspended water molecules in the terrestrial atmosphere extinguish photons. This causes a decrease in the power density of the FSO

beam and directly affects the availability of a system. Absorption occurs more readily at some wavelengths than others. However, the use of appropriate power, based on atmospheric conditions, and use of spatial diversity helps to maintain the required level of network availability.

(g). BUILDING SWAY / SEISMIC ACTIVITY One of the most common difficulties that arises when deploying FSO links on tall buildings or towers is sway due to wind or seismic activity Both storms and earthquakes can cause buildings to move enough to affect beam aiming. The problem can be dealt with in two complementary ways: through beam divergence and active tracking With beam divergence, the transmitted beam spread, forming optical cones Active tracking is based on movable mirrors that control the direction in which which can take many perturbations. beams are launched.

CHAPTER 10 RAPIDLY ADVANCING FSO TECHNOLOGY

10.1 LIGHT POINTE:Light Pointes FSO products utilize a multi-beam sending process, which overcomes atmospheric degradations and temporary beam obstructions by overlapping redundant infrared beams. Light Pointe was founded in 1998 and has become the global market leader for high capacity wireless outdoor bridges with over 5000 systems deployed in over 60 countries worldwide and in vertical markets such as Health Care, Education, Military & Government networks, large and small campus enterprise networks, Wire line and Wireless Service Provider networks. Over the last 10 years the company has established a unique diversified product portfolio based on high capacity Free Space Optics (FSO) and Millimeter Wave (MMW) technology. With more than 10 patents granted in the FSO, RF/MMW and in the hybrid bridging solution space Light Pointe has established a strong IP and patent portfolio position manifesting the companys technology leadership position. Light Pointe has a long list of global customers including but not limited to Wal-Mart, DHL, Sturm Foods, Siemens, Sprint, AOL, FedEx, BMW, Lockheed Martin, Dain Rauscher, Barclays, Nokia, Deutsche Bank, IBM, Corning, Cisco, Hawaii just to mentioned a few.

Fig 10.1 Light Pointe In Free Space Optics The addition of the licensed-free 60 GHz Airebeam G60 product complements the LightPointe comprehensive product portfolio of high capacity wireless bridges. By offering both , outdoor wireless bridges based on Free Space Optics (FSO) and millimeter-wave technology, we can fulfill any customer's high capacity transport requirements as far as bandwidth, distance and pricing is concerned." said Heinz Willebrand, LightPointe CEO and President. The 60 GHz band is license-free in the USA, Canada and soon other select countries including Europe. About Light Pointe Communications, In Light Pointe designs, manufactures and distributes ultra high-speed wireless point to point network bridging solutions based on patented free-space optics (FSO) and millimeter wave (MMW) technology. The products are used in fixed wireless last mile access for campus or enterprise building-to-building connectivity, and in infrastructure applications such as broadband cellular networks and wireless backhaul for WiMAX or WiFi networks. Light Pointe installation base of high capacity wireless bridges consists of more than 5000 systems deployed in more than 60 countries. The company is recognized worldwide for the highest standards of quality and service.

10.2. VCSEL LASERS:Over the last decade, VCSEL structures have gained a massive amount of popularity in the communications industry. In addition, laser lifetime, transmission power performance and modulation characteristics have shown dramatic improvements in the shorter 850 nm and 980 nm wavelength range. VCSELs clearly established a milestone and revolutionized the transmission component market due to the exceptional and dramatic cost/performance advantage over previously available technology. The success of VCSEL technology has been so tremendous that many VCSEL laser manufactures can produce shorter wavelength 850 nm laser structures with direct modulation speeds beyond 3 Gbps at power levels in excess of 10 mW. Direct electrical modulation of VCSEL lasers beyond 10 Gbps have been demonstrated and commercialized for OC-48 (STM-16) and 10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) operations. VCSEL lasers can operate at very low threshold currents (a few mill amperes) and the electro-optic conversion efficiency of these special semiconductor laser cavity structures is extremely high. Power dissipation is not typically an issue and active cooling of the VCSEL structure is not required. In addition, VCSELs emit light in the form of a circular beam instead of an elliptical beam shape found in hetero-junction DFB lasers. The round shape of the beam pattern perfectly matches the round core of an optical fiber strand. Therefore, the coupling process is far easier and coupling efficiency is much higher when compared to a standard DFB laser. Nonetheless, the most remarkable success in VCSEL technology is certainly related to MTBF: Some tests have measured and extrapolated failure rates below 1 FIT (1 failure in 1 billion hours) at 35 degrees Celsius junction temperature for the first 4000 years. This corresponds to a MTTF value of more than 4*107 hours! Even in environments that are exposed to high ambient temperature (such as outdoor FSO equipment) where the junction temperature can reach 90C for extended periods of time, a MTTF value of 3.9*105 hours or 44 years was estimated. An example of short wavelength VCSEL laser lifetime improvement since 1995 is shown in Fig. 5. Initial VCSEL laser production showed lifetime cycles around 50,000 hours. Through constant improvements in the fabrication process this value has been pushed beyond 5,000,000 hours for the Honeywell VCSEL product line.

Fig 10.2 Vcsel Lasers In Fso choosing the right transmitter is an important component of a free space optics system, critical to satisfying telecommunications equipment requirements. Besides the transmitter, the receiver is another important electronic component that has to be picked carefully. The following section focuses on suitable receivers for high performance FSO systems. 10.3. TERA BEAM: Terabeam's FSO products have advanced beam-steering features that update beam direction up to 300 times per second. Terabeam is the latest in a line of high-bandwidth, carrier-grade systems developed by Terabeam Wireless. TeraBeam is unique among our solutions in that it operates via free-space optics and thus does not use radio frequency. The system is a cost-effective solution for high-bandwidth connectivity at ranges less than one kilometer, and is ideal for deployments such as mobile wireless backhaul, single customer access, multi-tenant building access, enterprise E1/T1, Fast Ethernet extension and LAN-toLAN or campus connectivity.

Fig 10.3 Tera Beam In Fso 10.3.1 FEATURES OF TERA BEAM:

Designed for outdoor installations and provides bandwidths of 125 megabits per second (Mbps), independent of transport protocol Ideal for dense metro deployments in the range of 20 meters to 1 kilometer Operates at a wavelength of 850 nm and is completely eye-safe, with a Class 1 IEC/CDRH rating, which means no warning labels or access restrictions are required License-free operation worldwide eliminates the need for spectrum licensing or frequency planning Provides reliable performance using high-performance lasers with a mean time between failures (MTBF) of one million (1,000,000) hours Lightweight, advanced industrial design includes an integrated optical scope for ease of alignment and high/low power settings for optimized performance Design includes advanced laser delivery technology which maximizes availability while maintaining eye safety Includes built-in management functionality using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) version 1

10.4. AIRFIBER: AirFiber's products combine FSO with 60 GHz millimeter-wave radio, makes wireless communication possible in any weather. The Airfiber provides low-latency, full-duplex, wireless point-to- point Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connectivity and combines low cost-per-bit transport and high transmission security, all within a compact, easy to install, fully outdoor-rated unit. The AireFiber comes equipped with a hot swappable, GbE SFP optical fiber port as well as a GigE RJ-45 port for connecting to the network. The AireBeam G60's true flexibility can be found in the use of these two data ports, the secondary of which can be used as an integrated backup solution or as an add/drop port. At a total power consumption of less than 20 W the system can be powered by either a Cat5/6 Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) connection or by using a low voltage 48 Vdc power feed. The system supports an Ethernet based management system for SNMP v1/2c support and comes with an integrated Web browser agent. The system offers advanced features like a signal strength bar graph LED and flexible mounting options to allow for easy system installation and alignment.

Fig 10.4 Air Fiber in FSO With bandwidth and latency similar to fiber optic cable, the AirFiber G60 targets a very rapidly increasing number of short to medium distance outdoor wireless networking

applications that require Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth. Many of these applications are in the high capacity enterprise campus building-to-building and Metro Ethernet connectivity market where the challenge is to interconnect buildings that have no fiber access and/or where laying fiber simply takes too long and is cost prohibitive. The AirFiber G60 design allows for alternative data flow when used with the LightPointe FSO, AirFiber G70 MMW system or leased fiber for load sharing or back-up for ultimate uptime network performance.

CHAPTER 11 FSO AS A FUTURE TECHNOLOGY

Infrared technology is as secure or cable applications and can be more reliable than wired technology as it obviates wear and tear on the connector hardware. In the future it is forecast that this technology will be implemented in copiers, fax machines, overhead projectors, bank ATMs, credit cards, game consoles and head sets. All these have local applications and it is really here where this technology is best suited, owing to the inherent difficulties in its technological process for interconnecting over distances. Outdoors two its use is bound to grow as communications companies, broadcasters and end users discovers how crowded the radio spectrum has become. Once infrareds image issue has been overcome and its profile raised, the medium will truly have a bright, if invisible, future!

CONCLUSION

FSO enables optical transmission of voice video and data through air at very high rates. It has key roles to play as primary access medium and backup technology. Driven by the need for high speed local loop connectivity and the cost and the difficulties of deploying fiber, the interest in FSO has certainly picked up dramatically among service providers worldwide. Instead of fiber coaxial systems, fiber laser systems may turn out to be the best way to deliver high data rates to your home. FSO continues to accelerate the vision of all optical networks cost effectively, reliably and quickly with freedom and flexibility of deployment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) www.fsona.com 2) www.freespaceoptics.com 3) www.freespaceoptic.com 4) www.fsocentral.com 5) www.lightpointe.com

6) 7) 8). 9) 10) 11) 12)

www.proxim.com

www.wikipedia.com www.fsonews.com www.cablefreesolutions.com www.thefoa.org www.opticsreport.com www.free-space-optics.org