Free Space Optics System Reliability in the Presence of Weather-Induced Disruptions

Abstract

Free space optics (FSO) is a wireless optical communication technology enabling extremely high data transmission rates, which can be used for a wide range of emerging applications. Nevertheless, FSO system reliability can be easily deteriorated in the presence of various weather-induced disruptions. The main two atmospheric effects influencing FSO links are fog and turbulence. Their investigation is based on real data and simulations—separately performed for two different locations in Austria. Based on the aforementioned weather-induced disruption analysis and existing knowledge about the link margin of the selected FSO communication measurement scenario, both outage probability and availability parameters are evaluated. Considering these outcomes, the most prominent and well-established atmospheric mitigation techniques for FSO technologies are explained. To address these techniques, a special emphasis is placed on two emerging applications: modern deep space communications as well as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) wireless optical communications. Both are examined based on their susceptibility to the investigated weather-induced disruptions. In order to improve the deep space FSO system resilience against long-distance and atmospheric effects, an approach using the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) technology is considered. Furthermore, a hybrid V2V communication solution based on radio frequency (RF) and FSO is described