Facebook And Internet.org Team Are Up On a Mission
Alessandro Ilarda
Apr 7, 2014
Facebook and internet.org announced that they have formed a team called ‘the connectivity lab’, which will strive forward to further internet.org’s long standing goal – making internet more widely accessible. This team will be working on new communication technologies as well as aerospace technology, closing examining technologies such as satellites, mesh networks, high-altitude long-endurance planes, radios, free space optics, and lasers, to build a more connected future.
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The strategy
The strategy is to develop different ways of providing internet, so that they can be deployed according to the target area. The lab has categorized the areas into three categories, by population density measure: low density, medium density, and dense urban.
Paint A Picture
Saying that there is a strategy is one thing, but there is more information on this. We have word that in remote areas, unmanned aircrafts will provide internet connectivity. While in other areas, solar-powered aerial vehicles or orbit satellites will bean down internet signals.
The BEAMING Down
Sounds really futuristic right? Yeah FSO, or Free Space Optical communication will be used for this. It beams down invisible lasers that are part of the infrared part of the spectrum. These lasers use light for transmitting data through the air downwards.
The Laser Technology
It is not only cost-effective when it comes down to comparing with the pre-existing pathways for providing internet, but also dramatically increase the speed of the Internet, like never before – insanely high capacity and bandwidths. Power consumption wise, using FSO systems are desirable.
How Will The Future Look?
If ‘the connectivity lab’s mission becomes a success, internet will be available across the world, to the extent that even secluded areas like forests will be able to access internet.
