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Free Space Optics Link Performance Estimation Under Diverse Conditions

Tagnon P. Okoumassoun 1, Anita Antwiwaa 2, and Nana K. Gerrar 2
1. Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
2. Electrical/Electronics Engineering Department, Cape Coast Technical University, Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract—Free Space Optics (FSO) uses air as a medium of transmission of signals and requires Line of Sight (LOS) for operation. Communication systems that employ FSO have gained prominence in recent times and have been used in mobile communications, broadcast, security, and other applications. They have proven a worthy substitute for fibre optics albeit with some notable disadvantages. FSO systems are usually installed above ground level and are therefore exposed to the prevailing atmospheric conditions which can negatively affect the optical signal. Tropical regions exhibit adverse weather conditions such as rain, fog, and haze that can affect FSO signals. There is a dearth of research on the use of FSO systems in tropical regions and on methods to mitigate the effect of FSO signal interference. In this research, we propose diversity techniques to improve the link performance of FSO systems in a tropical region. The simulation results indicate a better Bit Error Rate (BER) and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) compared to other techniques.
 
Index Terms—Free space optics, optical communication, space diversity, atmospheric attenuation

Cite: Tagnon P. Okoumassoun, Anita Antwiwaa, and Nana K. Gerrar, "Free Space Optics Link Performance Estimation Under Diverse Conditions," Journal of Communications vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 714-722, September 2022. Doi: 10.12720/jcm.17.9.714-722

Copyright © 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the article is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.