David L. Panak

Fiber-coupled transceivers in point-to-point and point-to-multipoint optical wireless systems

A conceptual analysis of contemporary technological approaches for Free Space Optical (FSO) systems is presented, with cost drivers and installation requirements outlined. Major cost and installation drawbacks for typically packaged FSO systems include the number of opto-electronic (OE) interfaces needed to establish a link, rooftop or outdoor power utility requirements, and the mounting structures required to overcome wind loading and system weight. The paper describes an alternative to the traditional approach through the use of fiber coupled transceivers that separate the electronic packages away from the outdoor optical antenna. In this approach, weight and wind loading are minimized, the number of OE interfaces are reduced and special outdoor power utility requirements are eliminated. The fiber-coupled system is inherently low-maintenance and simple to upgrade and provides the low-cost core technology for a metropolitan area network deployment of point-to-multipoint FSO.