Free Space Optics for Laser Communication Through the Air

Dennis Killinger

Free space optics (FSO) communication involves the use of modulated optical or laser beams to send telecommunication information through the atmosphere. The concept of FSO light communication is not new: in his photophone patent of 1880, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated use of an intensity-modulated optical beam (sunlight) to transmit telephone signals 200 m through the air to a distant receiver.

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