Free Space Optics

Free Space Optics (FSO)
Technology Overview
Copyright © 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved. 1
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What is Free Space Optics (FSO)?
Optical or Wireless?
Dr. Erhard Kube, a

German scientist
regarded as
the father of the
FSO technology
Free-space optics (FSO) is a wireless line of sight technology that

transmits high data rates using a narrow beam light through the
air as transmission medium.

Why Free Space Optics (FSO)?
The “Last Mile” Bottleneck Problem
Wide Area Networks between Local Area Networks in
major cities are extremely fast buildings are also fast
• Fiber based • >100Mbps
• >2.5 Gbps
The connections in
between are typically
a lot slower
• 0.3-1.5 Mbps
Only about 5% of commercial

buildings are lit with fiber
Engineering Reviewers of Asia


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


Lightning Speed Installation
• Enable the Wall Street Stock Exchange back

to business after the 9/11 tragedy in less than
48 hours
• An average of 15 to 45 minutes deployment
for single FSO link.


Optical Wireless
Flexibility of
Speed of fiber
Wireless
Optical wireless, based on FSO-technology, is an

optical technology that provides the speed of
fiber, with the flexibility of wireless


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


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


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


How Fiber Optic Cable Works
Glass Fiber Strands

Light Source Detector
Detector Light Source
Network Network
Device Device
• Pulses of light communicate the data

• “ON” = 1
• “OFF = 0
• Capable of more than 40 Gbps
• >7 CDs a second

How FSO Works
3 A receiver at the other end of the
2 Transmitter projects the link collects the light using lenses
carefully aimed light pulses and/or mirrors
into the air
5 Reverse direction data

transported the same way.
• Full duplex
1 Network traffic 4 Received signal

converted into
converted back into
pulses of invisible
fiber or copper and
light representing
connected to the
1’s and 0’s
network
Anything that can be done in fiber

can be done with FSO

Fundamental Concepts
Received Power Calculation
 2  − a ∗R
 drx  10
Prx = Ptx ∗ ∗ 10
[ ]
2
 dtx + (D ∗ R ) 
2
Where:
P = the transmit power,
dt = transmit aperture diameter in meters
dr= receive aperture diameter in meters,
D = the beam divergence in mrad (1/e for the Gaussian beam),
R = the distance between optical transmitter and receiver in km,
a = the atmospheric attenuation factor in db/km based on the environment condition.


Divergence & Spot Size
λd 2λ
w0 = θ=
wπ wπ


Small Angles - Divergence & Spot Size
1° ≈ 17 mrad → 1 mrad ≈ 0.0573°
Small angle approximation:
Angle (in milliradians) * Range (km)= Spot Size (m)
1 mrad 1m
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 (~ ¼ deg) 1.0 km ~4.0 m (~13.0 ft)

Examples
Calculate the divergence angle and spot size 2km away from a FSO TX for a
Gaussian beam whose collimated spot size is 1mm if the wavelength is 0.82µm
Calculate the divergence angle and spot size of a Gaussian beam whose
collimated spot size is 1mm and wavelength of 0.8µm if these beam is aimed
directly at the moon.
Solve it till it Hertz…


Topology


Topology


Topology


Topology


Challenges Sunlight
Environmental factors
Window
Attenuation
Fog
Building
Motion
Scintillation Alignment
Range
Obstructions
Low Clouds
Each of these factors can “attenuate” (reduce) the signal.

However, there are ways to mitigate each environmental factor.

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


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 (can’t
see through it) can take a
link down
– Water sheeting on windows
• Heavy Snow
– May cause ice build-up on
Copyright © 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved. windows 22

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.


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


Challenges
Building Motion
Type Cause(s) Magnitude Frequency
Tip/tilt Thermal High Once per day

expansion
Sway Wind Medium Once every

several
seconds
Vibration Equipment (e.g., Low Many times

HVAC), door per second
slamming, etc.

Challenges
Compensating for Building Motion – Two Methods
0.2 – 1 mrad divergence

= 0.2 to 1 meter spread at 1 km
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
2 – 10 mrad divergence
=2 to 10 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

Challenges
Building Motion – Thermal Expansion
Results from Seattle

Deployment:
• 15% of buildings move

more than 4 mrad
more than 6 mrad
more than 10 mrad


Predicting Availability
What is Link Availability?
Link availability is the percentage of time over

a year that the an FSO link will be operational.
• 5 Nines = 99.999% = Down 5 min / year
• 4 Nines = 99.99% = Down 53 min / year
• 3 Nines = 99.9% = Down 8.75 hrs / year
• 99.8% = Down 17.5 hours per year
The Primary Driver of FSO

Availability is Weather

Predicting Availability
Putting It All Together – A Link Budget
Installation Characteristics:
1. 1550nm Gigabit Ethernet link (1.25 Gbps)
2. Automatic pointing and tracking
3. 5 dB windows at each end
4. 400m range
5. 10m Altitude
Budget:
Transmit Power 1000 mW 30 dB
Receive Sensitivity (-36 dBm) 36 dB
Geometric Loss w/o fog at 0.4 km -2.0 dB
Window attenuation (2 x 5.0 dB) -10.0 dB
Mispoint Loss -1.0 dB
Total Optical System Losses -9.0 dB
Total Remainder for Weather 44.0 dB
Therefore, the maximum allowed weather attenuation is:
44 dB/ 0.40 km = 110 dB/km

Applications & Network Integration
Deployments
1 Single customer access
2
3 2 Point-to-point connection
1
3 Campus connection
5 4 Diverse lateral
6 5
4 Backhaul or ring closure
6 Multi-tenant building
5
and more…
• Mobile network extensions
• Mobile network backhaul
• Spatial diversity

Eye Safety
The Eye’s Response to Laser Light
• Cornea
– Wavelengths above 1400 nm
almost completely absorbed by Cornea
the cornea and not transmitted
to the retina
• Retina
– Wavelengths below 1400 nm
(close to visible light) focused
onto the retina, so power levels
must be lower to ensure safety Retina
• Maximum Permissible Exposure

(MPE) limits established by ANSI

Eye Safety
Laser Standards Organizations
Organization Jurisdiction What they classify
CDRH United States; Product safety

Center for Devices
Part of the FDA (labeling,
& Radiological
Health installation, etc.)
ANSI United States; User safety

American National
Recognized by (maximum
Standards Institute
OSHA permissible
exposure)
IEC Much of the world; Product and user

International
Generally safety
Electrotechnical
Commission associated with the
CE Mark

Eye Safety
Laser Safety Standards
Viewing
Condition
Class One
Eye-Safe (all conditions) aided I 1 1
Eye-Safe w/o Optical Aids unaided -- 1 1M
Class Two
(Visible only 400 to 700 nm)
< 0.25 sec (eye aversion) aided II 2 2
< 0.25 sec unaided -- 2 2M
Class Three “a” or “R”
Minor Hazard aided IIIa (visible only) 3a 3R
(5 times Class 1) unaided -- 3a --
Class Three “b” - Eye Hazard any IIIb 3b 3B
Class Four
Eye Hazard any IV 4 4
• Most FSO systems are Class 1 or 1M

Eye Safety
Standards and FSO Use
• Class 1 systems can be

installed in Unrestricted
locations
• Class 1M systems can be

installed in Restricted
areas
• Class 3B and above only

in Controlled locations

Free Space Optics

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Copyright © 2002 Terabeam Corporation. All rights reserved. 1

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com

Dr. Erhard Kube, a