Free-space optical communication

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An 8-beam free space optics laser link, rated for 1 Gbit/s at a distance of approximately 2 km. The receptor is the large disc in the middle, the transmitters the smaller ones. To the top and right side a monocular for assisting the alignment of the two heads.

Contents
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1 History 2 Usage and technologies o 2.1 Visible light communication 3 Applications 4 Advantages 5 Disadvantages 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

Usage and technologies

Free-space point-to-point optical links can be implemented using infrared laser light, although low-data-rate communication over short distances is possible using LEDs. Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology is a very simple form of free-space optical communications. Free Space Optics are additionally used for communications between spacecraft. Maximum range for terrestrial links is in the order of 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 mi),[4] but the stability and quality of the link is highly dependent on atmospheric factors such as rain, fog, dust and heat. Amateur radio operators have achieved significantly farther distances using incoherent sources of light from high-intensity LEDs. One reported 173 miles (278 km) in 2007.[5] However, physical limitations of the equipment used limited bandwidths to about 4 kHz. The high sensitivities required of the detector to cover such distances made the internal capacitance of the photodiode used a dominant factor in the high-impedance

amplifier which followed it, thus naturally forming a low-pass filter with a cut-off frequency in the 4 kHz range. In outer space, the communication range of free-space optical communication is currently in the order of several thousand kilometers,[6] but has the potential to bridge interplanetary distances of millions of kilometers, using optical telescopes as beam expanders.[7] The distance records for optical communications involved detection and emission of laser light by space probes. A two-way distance record for communication was set by the Mercury laser altimeter instrument aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft. This infrared diode neodymium laser, designed as a laser altimeter for a Mercury orbit mission, was able to communicate across a distance of 15 million miles (24 million km), as the craft neared Earth on a fly-by in May, 2005. The previous record had been set with a one-way detection of laser light from Earth, by the Galileo probe, as two ground-based lasers were seen from 6 million km by the out-bound probe, in 1992.[8] Secure free-space optical communications have been proposed using a laser N-slit interferometer where the laser signal takes the form of an interferometric pattern. Any attempt to intercept the signal causes the collapse of the interferometric pattern.[9] [10] This technique has been demonstrated to work over propagation distances of practical interest[11] and, in principle, it could be applied over large distances in space.[9]

[edit] Advantages

RONJA is a free implementation of FSO using high-intensity LEDs.

Ease of deployment License-free long-range operation (in contrast with radio communication) High bit rates Low bit error rates Immunity to electromagnetic interference Full duplex operation Protocol transparency Very secure due to the high directionality and narrowness of the beam(s) No Fresnel zone necessary

[edit] Disadvantages
For terrestrial applications, the principal limiting factors are:

Beam dispersion Atmospheric absorption Rain Fog (10..~100 dB/km attenuation) Snow Scintillation Background light Shadowing Pointing stability in wind Pollution / smog If the sun goes exactly behind the transmitter, it can swamp the signal.

These factors cause an attenuated receiver signal and lead to higher bit error ratio (BER). To overcome these issues, vendors found some solutions, like multi-beam or multi-path architectures, which use more than one sender and more than one receiver. Some state-of-theart devices also have larger fade margin (extra power, reserved for rain, smog, fog). To keep an eye-safe environment, good FSO systems have a limited laser power density and support laser classes 1 or 1M. Atmospheric and fog attenuation, which are exponential in nature, limit practical range of FSO devices to several kilometres.

[edit] See also

Applications of atomic line filters in laser tracking and communication Extremely high frequency IrDA RONJA (Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access) Laser safety Mie scattering Modulating retro-reflector Semaphore line Optical window Photophone Radio window Rayleigh scattering Smoke signal Visible light communication

[edit] References
1. ^ Mary Kay Carson (2007). Alexander Graham Bell: Giving Voice To The World. Sterling Biographies. New York: Sterling Publishing. pp. 7678. ISBN 978-1-4027-3230-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=a46ivzJ1yboC. 2. ^ Alexander Graham Bell (October 1880). "On the Production and Reproduction of Sound by Light". American Journal of Science, Third Series XX (118): 305324.also published as "Selenium and the Photophone" in Nature, September 1880. 3. ^ "German, WWII, WW2, Lichtsprechgert 80/80". LAUD Electronic Design AS. http://www.laud.no/ww2/lispr/lispr2.htm. Retrieved June 28, 2011. 4. ^ Tom Garlington, Joel Babbitt and George Long (March 2005). "Analysis of Free Space Optics as a Transmission Technology". WP No. AMSEL-IE-TS-05001. U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command. p. 3. Archived from the original on June 13,

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2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070613000248/http://www.hqisec.army.mil/isec/publications/A nalysis_of_Free_Space_Optics_as_a_Transmission_Technology_Mar05.pdf. Retrieved June 28, 2011. ^ Clint Turner (October 3, 2007). "A 173-mile 2-way all-electronic optical contact". Modulated light web site. http://www.modulatedlight.org/optical_comms/optical_qso_173mile.html. Retrieved June 28, 2011. ^ "Another world first for Artemis: a laser link with an aircraft". European Space Agency. December 18, 2006. http://www.esa.int/esaTE/SEMN6HQJNVE_index_0.html. Retrieved June 28, 2011. ^ Steen Eiler Jrgensen (October 27, 2003). "Optisk kommunikation i deep space Et feasibilitystudie i forbindelse med Bering-missionen". Dansk Rumforskningsinstitut. http://silicium.dk/pdf/speciale.pdf. Retrieved June 28, 2011.(Danish) Optical Communications in Deep Space, University of Copenhagen ^ "Space probe breaks laser record: A spacecraft has sent a laser signal to Earth from 24 million km (15 million miles) away in interplanetary space". BBC News. January 6, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4587580.stm. Retrieved June 28, 2011. ^ a b F. J. Duarte (May 2002). "Secure interferometric communications in free space". Optics Communications 205 (4): 313319. doi:10.1016/S0030-4018(02)01384-6. ^ F. J. Duarte (January 2005). "Secure interferometric communications in free space: enhanced sensitivity for propagation in the metre range". Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics 7 (1). doi:10.1088/1464-4258/7/1/011. ^ F. J. Duarte, T. S. Taylor, A. M. Black, W. E. Davenport, and P. G. Varmette, N-slit interferometer for secure free-space optical communications: 527 m intra interferometric path length , J. Opt. 13, 035710 (2011). ^ Tanaka, Y.; Haruyama, S.; Nakagawa, M.; , "Wireless optical transmissions with white colored LED for wireless home links," Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, 2000. PIMRC 2000. The 11th IEEE International Symposium on , vol.2, no., pp.1325-1329 vol.2, 2000 ^ "Visible Light Communication Consortium". web site. Archived from the original on April 6, 2004. http://web.archive.org/web/20040406083532/http://www.vlcc.net/.(Japanese) ^ J. Grubor; S. Randel; K.-D. Langer; J. W. Walewski (December 15, 2008). "Broadband Information Broadcasting Using LED-Based Interior Lighting". Journal of Lightwave Technology 26 (24): 38833892. doi:10.1109/JLT.2008.928525. ^ "500 Megabits/Second with White LED Light". news release (Siemens). January 18, 2010. http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/news_events/ct_pressreleases/e_research_news/2010/ e_22_resnews_1002_1.htm. Retrieved June 28, 2011. ^ Lee, I.E.; Sim, M.L.; Kung, F.W.L.; , "Performance enhancement of outdoor visible-light communication system using selective combining receiver," Optoelectronics, IET , vol.3, no.1, pp.30-39, February 2009 ^ "IEEE 802.15 WPAN Task Group 7 (TG7) Visible Light Communication". IEEE 802 local and metro area network standards committee. 2009. http://www.ieee802.org/15/pub/TG7.html. Retrieved June 28, 2011. ^ Kari Petrie (November 19, 2010). "City first to sign on to new technology". St. Cloud Times: p. 1. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sctimes/access/2192375711.html?FMT=ABS&date=Nov+19%2 C+2010. ^ Jing Xue, Alok Garg, Berkehan Ciftcioglu, Jianyun Hu, Shang Wang, Ioannis Savidis, Manish Jain, Rebecca Berman, Peng Liu, Michael Huang, Hui Wu, Eby G. Friedman, Gary W. Wicks, Duncan Moore (June 2010). "An Intra-Chip Free-Space Optical Interconnect". the 37th International Symposium on Computer Architecture. http://www.ece.rochester.edu/users/mihuang/PAPERS/isca10.pdf. Retrieved June 30, 2011.