?– Point-to-multipoint FSO is a point-to-point technology and, therefore, cannot,
by itself, provide point-to-multipoint services. This shortcoming of FSO is complemented
by mesh networking technology, which can offer both point-to-multipoint
and multipoint-to-multipoint services.
?– Line-of-sight FSO technology is a line-of-sight technology. Therefore, FSO by
itself cannot be used to offer its high capacity network services to a location not in
line-of-sight of a POP. However, mesh networks enable delivery of services to locations
that are not in direct line-of-sight of the POP.
?– Failure resiliency All communications systems are prone to failure and FSO
links are no exception. Because of its line-of-sight requirements, any event that
could rob an FSO link of its line-of-sight would disrupt the link. This limitation is
complemented by the redundancy inherent in mesh networks.
Optical Wireless Mesh Networks 251
Optical wireless mesh technology is, therefore, a perfect marriage of two emerging
technologies: wireless optics and mesh networking. Throughout the remainder of this
chapter, we will discuss its applications, primarily in the context of Carrier Ethernet
service delivery.
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