Analysis - Can free space optics solve the backhaul crunch?

[HEXUS]

Smart mobile devices are putting unprecedented strain on mobile networks. Something has to be done.

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[miniyazz]

Hmmm... invisible lasers, eh? Spiderman'd be blind if this were around

[aidanjt]

WTF happened to that money?

Gordy made off with the loot.

[Fatboy40]

Isn't this old tech ?.

I nearly installed laser tech about seven years ago to link two building together that were seperated by a road and two car parks. Bloody expensive but far cheaper than digging the road up and installing fibre.

[badass]

Isn't this old tech ?.

I nearly installed laser tech about seven years ago to link two building together that were seperated by a road and two car parks. Bloody expensive but far cheaper than digging the road up and installing fibre.

It's certianly been around for a while. Maybe they have a new spin on it. You've been able to get gigabit line of sight links for years now.

[Scott B]

I did say it's been around for at least 10 years...

The aim of fSONA seems to be to resurrect interest in the technology after some companies had disappointed in the past and given it a dodgy reputation within the industry.

[semo]

£20bn for dead space? I know that the govt wasted the money, but what service did they provide. Was it just a cert saying "you can use xxxx MHz to yyyy MHz anywhere in britain". Daylight robbery. I hope no company ever has to buy such nothing anymore (consumers end up paying and progress is stifled).

[kingpotnoodle]

What happens when it's a bit foggy... or in smoggy cities... or heavy rain... "sorry your bandwidth is crap today sir, all the retransmits on the optical link due to rain are slowing things up"

Or even worse when a pigeon perches on your sensor and poops on the lens?

[shony]

Birds are urban legend.... doest harm leaser at all
fog can be depend... rain.... not really..... lots of GSM operator in Europe using FSO...

[HEADRAT]

Frickin Laser Beams, just use microwaves and support a UK company

http://www.cbnl.com/product/

HEADRAT

[fSONA]

Unlike RF systems that experience degraded capacity in adverse weather (i.e. rain fade) an FSO system does not experience reduced throughput due to weather; as long as light is getting to the remote end, you have full capacity. The unique wavelength used by fSONA (1550nm) allows much higher transmit power, meaning better weather penetration and therefore has superior performance and availability than some of the FSO equipment deployed years ago by our competitors. Smog is a non-issue and in fog prone regions the distance will be limited, but it is simply a matter of engineering the link for the local conditions. Given that the average distance between cell sites is now less than 1km, this is an ideal solution.

Paul Erickson, VP Operations, fSONA Networks