Something very different in price and concept from the normal items mentioned here, however as I know a good number of members are managers or system administrators this is something that is of interest.
In simple terms this is an optical wireless communications system.
Lets say there are two buildings with line of site (up to two hundred
metres) then PAV Express could save you a lot of money in communication
expenses.
Leased
lines are expensive and the alternative, digging up urban streets are
expensive and time consuming. So assuming two building have line of
sight then PAV Express could be the answer not only from the point of
saving money but also in time, as installation can be completed in less
than half a day.
PAV Express provides full duplex Fast Ethernet 100Mbps bandwidth for
all communications, that is not only data and video but also voice.
Should the two buildings be more than 200 metres apart then PAV have
other solutions. Should you not have direct line of sight then there is
nothing to stop the signal being bounced either over a larger structure
or even round it once you get agreement with the owners to put a
intermediary unit on say their roof. This unit would only be the
receiver and transmitter of information.
In simple terms the PAV system uses light beams to transmit
information. The only time there could be problems is with thick fog
(appently its extremely fine rain molecules that cause the problem)
and even then it would still work at about double the distance you can
see with the naked eye.
I raised security fears, and the way it was explained to me was even
if another unit was placed beside your unit the information would not
be compromised. If say a large bird flew through the path of the data
then the last few packets may need to be resent. In the case of a voice
conversation you probably would not even notice. Once data is received
in the second unit it passes into the network and therefore is as safe
as your normal network information.
This is far more secure than wireless communication as it can only
be understood by the receiving unit and it requires no licences to be
used. It is used by one of the Formula One teams to convey data to and
from Pit Walls to their communication centres. This shows the
transportability of the units as should you move then in around half a
day you can be up and running in a new location should this be required.
The PAV Express units look in size and shape rather like video
surveillance cameras as used by rail companies on unattended stations.
The laser light is said to be totally safe for eye contact and I am
assured that anything passing through the beam will suffer no adverse
reaction or later problems.
The typical cost of two units is in the region of £3000. Ideal for
anyone needing to set up information transmission quickly and so I am
told not requiring expensive and time consuming planning permissions.
Link : http://www.pavdata.com
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