Bridging Sky to Network: FSO in 5G

A new optical transmission technique that offers high data speeds is known as free space optics (FSO), wide bandwidth, free licensing, and strong security. It presents an attractive solution to meet the connectivity needs of 5G, which has revolutionized our lives, as well as the requirements of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, FSO communication faces challenges, particularly in adverse weather conditions. This paper focuses on analyzing the performance of FSO links based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for 5G and IoT applications. Our study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of FSO technology by considering key factors such as data rate, laser power, bandwidth, and range. The obtained results demonstrate the successful achievement of a data rate of 10 Gbit/s, a laser power of 10 dBm, and a wide bandwidth of 6 GHz, which are suitable for 5G applications. Moreover, under clear weather conditions, a maximum range of 10 km has been achieved. The performance of the system is seriously affected by weather conditions such as snow and rain, and this must be noted in order to highlight the need for more focus in real FSO installations for 5G and IoT networks.