Free Space Optics Technology Providing Next Generation Wireless Communication

Optical communication technology has connected the world and diminished the distances on a global scale.  As the information-oriented world develops, with an expanding variety and number of personal connections, the extent of traffic sent from terminals will expand significantly, and various bandwidths and different types of traffic such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) is anticipated to be produced by various devices. To house the future demand for safe and fast network, free space optics is all set to play vital role and is probable to drive the free space market growth over the forecast period. On the other hand, internet traffic is gradually growing overseas, so that the demand for optical equipment and complete system used for backbones is projected to upsurge even more in nearby future and beyond. Short range transmission equipment demand will also upswing in future following the growth in capital investment in data centers in response to the progress of cloud services and big data businesses. 

The total free space optics equipment shipment value revealed 1.2% YoY growth 2015 and 4.1% YoY in FY 2016 representing growth in emerging markets and capturing of demand in Asia and South America where broadband environments are being established. Cost efficient and secure installation of free space optics technology as compared to optic fibres is one of the major factors for the attractiveness of this innovative technology. Unlike radio frequency (RF) signals, free space optics components are economical and consume less power. Furthermore, free Space Optics (FSO) provides the crucial combination of abilities required to bring the traffic to the optical fiber backbone �" virtually unlimited bandwidth, ease and speed of deployment. Free space optics systems can be installed in point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, ring or mesh connections. Fiber deployment in urban areas could cost USD 300,000-700,000 given the expenses involved in excavating tunnels and obtaining rights-of-way. By contrast, a short FSO link of 155 Mbps might cost only USD 15,000-18,000.

However, environment surroundings pose a severe challenge to the performance of optical communication system for ground-to-satellite/satellite-to-ground and inter-satellite links. Market players have to come up with methods both at physical layer as well as at the other layers (link, network or transport layer) to battle the adverse effects of the atmosphere, so that they can take benefit of the huge potential of the market across the globe. Moreover, various monitoring organizations in the United States and Europe are considering enacting against the usage of non-eye-safe laser centered products in populated urban areas. Laser eye safety standards are classified by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which is the international standards organization for all fields of electrotechnology. Free Space optics market players continue to expand the restrictions of free space optics technology to advance the next generation of short-haul broadband communications solutions for a wide range of markets and applications, which will help the market to grow exponentially.