Free Space Optics - Introduction

Free Space Optics



Free Space Optics (FSO) technology uses unguided medium (free space) for light propagation. FSO gives speed comparable to fiber optics and uses atmosphere as propagation channel instead of fiber optics. Several atmospheric and other attenuating factors limit the effective range of the FSO systems to a few kilometers. FSO is working in visible-to-infrared range, in this range the wavelength is comparable to fog or haze droplet size, which causes absorption and scattering. In order to address these issues the researchers at KICS are working on FSO communication with special emphasis on channel modeling in fog and haze. They are currently analyzing factors effecting FSO link quality and trying to apply the quantum modeling technique to nullify the attenuating, specifically diffraction factors and improving the effective range of the FSO system. The group is also looking on the fact that how different statistical as well as mathematical techniques can be used to model the natural atmosphere and its interaction with electromagnetic magnetic (EM) waves/beam with special emphasis in visible-to-infrared spectrum. The emphasis is to develop models to predict the absorption and attenuation losses in foggy atmosphere so that adaptive transceivers can be developed effectively which can show better performance.