Optical wireless is the combined use of "optical" (
optical fibre
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...
) and "wireless" (
radio frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upp ...
) communication to provide
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
to clusters of end points which are geographically distant. The high capacity optical fibre is used to span the longest distances. A lower cost wireless link carries the signal for the
last mile to nearby users.
See also
*
4.5G
LTE Advanced (LTE+) is a mobile communication standard and a major enhancement of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. It was formally submitted as a candidate 4G to ITU-T in late 2009 as meeting the requirements of the IMT-Advanced standar ...
/
5G
References
Definition: Optical Wireless SearchMobileComputing website.
Optical communications
Local loop
Wireless
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