Lucent, de grote amerikaanse jongen, heeft weer een nieuwe aankondiging gedaan over een 'baanbrekende' technologie. D.m.v. laser stralen kan Lucent 10 GB per seconde aan data transport behalen, over een afstand van 5 kilometer.
Using lasers mounted on rooftops, Lucent said it is about to begin testing a system that will eventually beam 10Gb, or about 15 CD-ROMs, through the air in a single second. Called WaveStar OpticAir, the system will begin testing in December. Those scared OpticAir's laser energy would fry planes, birds and the planet Yavin need not worry, Lucent says. The system uses "expanded-beam" lasers that are supposed to be environmentally safe. The system is based on dense wave division multiplexing and can carry voice, data or video. The technology isn't designed for long-range communication but to compete with microwave devices that send data between office buildings in metropolitan areas. The initial WaveStar OpticAir product will hit 2.5Gb/s and will be available in March. By the summer of 2000, WaveStar should hit 10/Gb and have a range of about five kilometers.
