June 2, 2005 McLean, VA -- Researchers at Ball State University (Muncie, IN) are set to deploy fSONA Systems' point-to-point laser communications system, which the company says is designed to transmit broadband communications among buildings. For the project, faculty and students from the university's Institute for Wireless Innovation (IWI) are installing the company's free space optics (FSO) communications equipment.
"The project will allow students to determine the viability of using lasers to transmit broadband communications between businesses in nearby locations," explains Steve Jones, the IWI's director. "FSO communications are much cheaper and faster to install than using fiber-optics - which require installing wire-lines across blocks or miles - yet they provide very high bandwidth, up to 1.5 Gbits/sec. FSO technology has the potential to greatly lower the cost and time to deployment for broadband communications."
According to the company, FSO, also known as optical wireless technology, refers to the transmission of modulated visible or infrared beams for the purpose of wireless communications. Like fiber-optics, FSO uses lasers to transmit data, but instead of enclosing the data stream in a fiber-optic band, the stream is transmitted through the air.
The company says its SONAbeam transmits invisible light beams which, owing to their operating wavelength of 1550-nm, are inherently eye-safe. The company calls its SONAbeam terminals protocol-transparent, Layer 1 devices that implement FSO links for transport of high-speed protocols at full line-rate.
Ball State's IWI was created as a result of partnership between the university's Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) and Ericsson.