Optical fiber is outdated? Gbps Space Optical Communication in the UK!

Optical fiber is outdated? Gbps Space Optical Communication in the UK!

According to foreign media reports, researchers at the University of Oxford have achieved free-space optical communication at a rate of up to Gbps. Such optical communication technology does not need to use optical fiber. The researchers pointed out that the maximum rate of the communication system can reach 3 Tbps.

The study, led by Dominic O 'Brien, a professor of optics at the University of Oxford, reported that the communication between the base station and the computer was not radio, but light. The researchers pointed out that the maximum rate of the communication system can reach 3 Tbps, but currently researchers focus on the transmission rate of Gbps.

To prevent excessive dispersion of light, the researchers used LCD arrays. This provides a programmable diffraction grating, similar to the technology used in the projector. The transmission rate of this system also depends on the receiver's field of view. If a wider field of view is available, more wavelength light can be used for signal transmission. The 60-degree field of view supports 6 wavelengths, while the 36-degree field of view supports only 3 wavelengths. However, such wavelength division multiplexing technology can achieve transmission rates of 224 Gbps (6 channels) and 112 Gbps (3 channels.

Although the current technology only supports 3 meters of communication distance, it can already be used in indoor networks. In addition to visible light, o'brian's team also tried to use 1550 nm wavelength of light for free-space optical communication. This wavelength of light is widely used in the telecom industry.