NOVEMBER 8, 2007 � Canon USA Inc. (search for Canon) says that its Canobeam DT-130 Free Space Optics (FSO) Transceiver has been deployed by Nice Shoes, a New York commercial post-production firm, to link office locations in Manhattan.
Nice Shoes comprises four boutique facilities included in its corporate family: Guava (VFX, design and 3D), Freestyle Collective (3D animation and broadcast design), Nice Spots (Web-based sharing, archiving, and collaboration application), and Nice Shoes (color correction, online edit, and VFX). When these multiple divisions expanded into new offices on either side of Manhattan's Park Avenue South, they needed a cost-effective, reliable means of networking their data. Microwave was not an option in this RF-heavy urban environment, and local fiber loops were not cost-effective, according to Canon. That's why they chose to install the FSO link, which provides secure, wireless 1.25-Gbit/sec data-transmission for Gigabit Ethernet networking.
Working off of a large online video management and storage system where uncompressed HD files are frequently shuttled back and forth, Nice Shoes needed a high-capacity link. After a site survey, equipment spec, and installation design by Systems Support Solutions, an FSO integration and equipment-distribution company in Orono, MN, Nice Shoes set up matching Canobeam DT-130 transceivers shooting through closed office windows across Park Avenue South in Manhattan.
"Once we made the move across the street, the slower T1s proved to be inadequate," said Blake Cornell, engineer, Freestyle Collective. "The Canobeam has paid for itself within a few short months. The local loop was a monthly expenditure, but the Canobeam's speed allowed us to cut that cost out entirely."
Like the other three members of the Canobeam line, the Canobeam DT-130 employs a class 1M laser, which is safe to the naked eye and transmits high-speed data via infrared light. Because they operate using a line-of-sight beam of light, Canobeams are virtually immune from signal interception and provide secure data transmission, according to the manufacturer. All Canobeams are protocol-independent (like fiber), can be set-up quickly, and since they do not use radio waves, do not require radio frequency allocations, permits, or licenses, Canon adds.
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