Analysis of possibilities for measurement effect of visibility in experimental FSO system

Abstract

Nowadays, wireless optical systems are very popular because they offer a a lot of advantages including high speed transmission, high security levels, and low maintenance costs. One of these wireless optical systems is Free Space Optics (FSO). However, their primary drawback relates to the type of transmission medium used. Atmospheric channel is chosen to be the transmission medium for FSO systems. The resulting attenuation relates with all inhomogeneities that occur in the atmosphere. Concentration of water particles represents inhomogeneities which increase the levels of attenuation. Weather conditions are characterized by speciffc concentration of these particles. Visibility is one of the most crucial parameters for FSO communication. It is very important to monitor this parameter in order to switch between primary optical line and backup secondary Radio Frequency (RF) line. The focus of this paper is to analyze and evaluate visibility measurement in FSO system deployed in TUKE (Technical University of Kosice) campus. The measurement of different weather parameters for this system is triggered on TUKE. The Switching method is based on monitoring visibility as the primary parameter. Different measurement approaches provide different processing speeds. Faster and more accurate switching ensures stable system without disruption.

Keywords

• fso
• measurement of visibility
• reliability