Free Space Optics (FSO)

Technology Overview
John Schuster
Chief Technology Officer
Terabeam Corporation

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Presentation Overview
Why Free Space Optics?
Challenges
Transceiver Design
Predicting Availability
Eye Safety
Applications & Network Integration
The Future of FSO

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics (FSO)?

The Last Mile Bottleneck

Problem
Wide
Area Networks between
Local Area Networks in
major cities are extremely fast
Fiber based
>2.5 Gbps

buildings are also fast

>100Mbps

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

Only about 5% of commercial

buildings are lit with fiber
Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics?

Why Not Just Bury More Fiber?

Cost
Rights of Way
Permits
Trenching
Time
With FSO, especially through
the window, no permits, no
digging, no fees

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics?

How Fiber Optic Cable Works

Glass Fiber Strands
Light Source

Detector

Detector

Light Source

Network
Device

Network
Device

Pulses of light communicate the data

ON = 1
OFF = 0
Capable of more than 40 Gbps
>7 CDs a second
Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics?

How FSO Works

2 Transmitter projects the
carefully aimed light pulses
into the air

3 A receiver at the other end of the

link collects the light using lenses
and/or mirrors

5 Reverse direction data

transported the same way.
Full duplex
1 Network traffic
converted into
pulses of invisible
light representing
1s and 0s

4 Received signal
converted back into
fiber or copper and
connected to the
network

Anything that can be done in fiber

can be done with FSO
Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics?

Very Narrow and Directional

Beams
Beams only a few meters in diameter at a kilometer

Allows VERY close spacing of links without interference

No side lobes
Highly secure
Efficient use of energy
Ranges of 20m to more than 8km possible

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics?

Deployment Behind Windows

Rapid installations without trenching
and permitting
Direct connection to the end user
Bypasses the building owner
No roof rights
No riser rights

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Why Free Space Optics?

The FSO Value Proposition

No interference
Unlicensed
Easy to install
Through the window
(or from the rooftop)
No trenching, no permits
Fiber-like data rates
Many deployment options
Fungible equipment

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

Fundamental Concepts

Small Angles - Divergence & Spot

Size
1 17 mrad 1 mrad 0.0573

Small angle approximation:

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

1m

1 mrad
1 km

Divergence

Range

Spot Diameter

0.5 mrad

1.0 km

~0.5 m (~20 in)

2.0 mrad

1.0 km

~2.0 m (~6.5 ft)

4.0 mrad (~ deg)

1.0 km

~4.0 m (~13.0 ft)

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

10

Fundamental Concepts

The Decibel - dB

A logarithmic ratio between two values

In the optical world of Power in mW,

dB=10*Log(power2/power1)
3 dB = ratio of 2/1

Gain/Loss Multiplier
+30 db

1000

+20 db

100

+10 db

10

0 db

-10 db

.1

10 dB = ratio of 10/1

-20 db

.01

20 dB = ratio of 100/1

-30 db

.001

6 dB = ratio of 4/1

50 dB= ratio of 100,000/1

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

11

Challenges

Sunlight

Environmental factors
Window
Attenuation

Fog
Building
Motion

Alignment

Scintillation

Obstructions

Range

Low Clouds
Each of these factors can attenuate (reduce) the signal.
However, there are ways to mitigate each environmental factor.
Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

12

Challenges

Atmospheric Attenuation - FOG

Absorption or scattering of optical
signals due to airborne particles
Primarily FOG but can be rain, snow,
smoke, dust, etc.
Can result in a complete outage
FSO wavelengths and fog droplets
are close to equal in size
(Mie Scattering)

Typical FSO systems work 2-3X

further than the human eye can see
High availability deployments
require short links that can operate
in the fog
Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

13

Challenges

Low Clouds, Rain, Snow and

Dust
Low Clouds
Very similar to fog
May accompany rain and snow

Rain
Drop sizes larger than fog and wavelength of
light
Extremely heavy rain (cant see through it) can
take a link down
Water sheeting on windows

Heavy Snow
May cause ice build-up on windows
Whiteout conditions

Sand Storms
Likely only in desert areas; rare in the urban
core

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

14

Challenges

Scintillation
Beam spreading and wandering due to propagation through
air pockets of varying temperature, density, and index of
refraction.
Almost mutually exclusive with fog attenuation.
Results in increased error rate but not complete outage.

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

15

Challenges

Window Attenuation
Uncoated glass attenuates 4% per surface due to reflection
Tinted or insulated windows can have much greater attenuation
Possible to trade high altitude rooftop weather losses vs. window
attenuation

WAM

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

16

Challenges

Building Motion

Type

Cause(s)

Magnitude

Frequency

Tip/tilt

Thermal
expansion

High

Once per day

Sway

Wind

Medium

Once every
several
seconds

Vibration

Equipment (e.g.,
HVAC), door
slamming, etc.

Low

Many times
per second

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Challenges

Compensating for Building Motion Two

Methods
1. Automatic Pointing and Tracking
Allows narrow divergence beams for greater link margin
System is always optimally aligned for maximum link margin
Additional cost and complexity

0.2 1 mrad divergence

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

2 10 mrad divergence
=2 to 10 meter spread at 1 km

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Challenges

Building Motion Thermal

Expansion
Results from Seattle
Deployment:
15% of buildings move
more than 4 mrad
5% of buildings move
more than 6 mrad
1% of buildings move
more than 10 mrad

Copyright 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved.

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