In 2017, the value of the global market for free space optical
communication technology was $229.2 million and it is expected to grow
at a compound annual growth rate of 34% during the years 2018-2023.
North America and Asia-Pacific are ranked successively the two major
global markets. The high demand for fast, flexible wireless technology
among all industries including reconnaissance, last and first mile
connectivity, backhaul and internet of things are major drivers for the
expected growth of free space optics. Moreover, security and high-speed
wireless communication, as well as the emerging need for higher
flexibility modules, are also key factors that enhance the growth of the
global free space optics market. All of these factors are the major
forces behind this book's investigation of the performance of FSO under
severe conditions and environmental impairment, and how FSO systems can
be integrated to enhance the next 5G networks revolution. This book
provides an in-depth insight of free space optics already applied in
military data security as well as in daily data exchange. This system
offers several more advantages compared to other technologies such as
low cost, mobility equipment's or security. Moreover, this technology
has the potential of becoming an integral and indispensable part of
data-processing architectures and telecommunications in the very near
future. The book also provides a review of the history of wireless
optical telecommunications, together with a synopsis of the application
of the principles of electromagnetism in free-space optics. FSO Features
and applications are also presented together with an overview of the
potential challenges. The environmental impairment itself, which is the
key challenge, is put under deep scrutiny. Special attention too is
given to the possible mitigation solutions to overcome possible
impairments.
