With all of the recent talk of Google bidding on unused radio spectrum, and WiMax providers using frequencies in the microwave range, some businesses are now using light to transmit more information than any other wireless transmission method. Wireless optics, or free-space optics (FSO) uses invisible beams of light to create an optical bandwidth connection. These wireless optical connections could provide improved security and higher data-transfer rates than any existing wireless technology.

The technology could be the basis for robust networks in urban areas, and some businesses are already using FSO to connect nearby offices. The advantage of FSO is that it needs no physical infrastructure and could provide comparable speed connectivity to areas without any existing wiring. Wireless Optics could be the basis for networks in new urban areas and make the costly installation of underground fiber-optic cables completely unnecessary. Essentially, FSO very well may make a true "wireless infrastructure" less of an oxymoron and more of a reality.

freespaceoptics.org
The Economist: "A New Old Idea"

Labels: Wireless