Optical Wireless Broadband (OWB) is a high speed alternative to fiber optic cabling. Like fiber optic solutions, OWB uses infrared light to send packets from source to destination at bandwidths up to 1 Gbps. What’s missing is the glass fiber.If you don’t use fiber to carry the optical signals, then just what do you use? Air. That’s right, just send the light beam through the air without a conduit to constrain it. Broad Sky Networks has a solution called iBeam that does just that. It creates reliable point to point Optical Wireless Broadband links that provide up to 1 Gbps of bandwidth over distances of up to 1.6 km per link.
You can imagine how easy it is to interconnect all the buildings on your university, medical or research campus using OWB technology. After all, these buildings are certainly within line of site of each other. That’s a requirement of iBeam technology. If the beam is blocked, the data is cut off.
An advantage of iBeam over short range free space optical transmission solutions is that it extends over a kilometer and a half between source and destination. That lets you cross busy thoroughfares, rivers, lakes, business districts, residential areas and so on. You may have already priced construction efforts that run fiber optic cabling on poles or trenched underground. Has that been a show stopper in your plans to interconnect facilities with high bandwidth services? iBeam can be the solution that gets around those limitations. Actually, your infrared beam goes right over the problem areas with no right of way issues, no frequency coordination and no RF licenses needed.
Speaking of RF, there is one situation where you may want to employ a radio frequency solution. Infrared light is blocked by heavy fog and other severe weather conditions. If you can’t see the building you are connecting with, the iBeam probably can’t either. If you are connecting near the distance limits of iBeam or are located in an area known for heavy fog, Broad Sky Networks offers a iBeam RF+ backup system to maintain your signal. In addition to the standard iBeam equipment, an 802.11n radio system is installed as a backup link. You’ll recognize that designation as the latest high speed WiFi standard. In the even of an optical outage for any reason, the OWB link will automatically switch to the RF+ radio backup. Your bandwidth will temporarily go from 1 Gbps to 100 Mbps, but you’ll still have connectivity.
For special coverage needs, Broad Sky has a patented mesh network solution. Their Optical Wireless Broadband Point to Multi-Point architecture (PtMP) is unique in the industry. This technology can help you expand your current wired or fiber network quickly and easily with a combination of conventional network connections and optical segments.
Are you frustrated with a lack of affordable conventional solutions to connect multiple buildings on a campus or metro setting? Optical Wireless Broadband may offer the solution you’ve been needing. Get pricing and availability of a wide variety of optical and fiber bandwidth connectivity solutions to meet your particular business requirements.
Note: Picture of Keck telescope laser beam at night courtesy of Paul Hirst on Wikimedia Commons.
