Survey on FSO Communication system—limitations and enhancement techniques

Abstract

Free-space optical (FSO) communication is a line-of-sight communication in which the data modulates the infrared or visible laser light through the air from transmitter to receiver. FSO ensures fast, secure, and reliable data transmission for which it is widely considered as a next-generation high-speed wireless communication technology. FSO systems are mostly the “last mile solution” for commercial systems of metro networks between fixed sites. Because of the inherent benefit of mobility, fast deployment, security, and high data rates, FSO systems are being considered for military systems. The properties of FSO system such as license-free band, cost-effectiveness, and high-bandwidth access allows it to gain rapid popularity as a means of transferring data at high rates over small distances. However, FSO does suffer from certain limitations as well; mostly caused due to atmospheric turbulence that highly degrades its performance. In this paper, various limitations of FSO and the possible means to mitigate their effect are discussed.