Editing Optical communication (section)

=== Free-space optical communication ===
{{Main|Free-space optical communication |Optical wireless communications}}
Free-space optics (FSO) systems are employed for '[[Last mile (telecommunications)|last mile]]' [[telecommunications]] and can function over distances of several kilometers as long as there is a clear [[Line-of-sight propagation|line of sight]] between the source and the destination, and the optical receiver can reliably decode the transmitted information.<ref>{{cite web |title= A 173-mile 2-way all-electronic optical contact |url= http://www.modulatedlight.org/optical_comms/optical_qso_173mile.html |work= Modulated light web site |author= Clint Turner |date= October 3, 2007 |access-date= June 28, 2011 }}</ref> Other free-space systems can provide high-data-rate, long-range links using small, low-mass, low-power-consumption subsystems which make them suitable for communications in space.<ref>{{cite report |last=Wilson|first=K.|title=Recent Development in High-Data Rate Optical Communications at JPL |website=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |hdl=2014/18156 |hdl-access=free |date=2000-01-04}}</ref> Various planned [[satellite constellation]]s intended to provide global broadband coverage take advantage of these benefits and employ [[laser communication in space|laser communication]] for inter-satellite links between the several hundred to thousand satellites effectively creating a space-based [[optical mesh network]].

More generally, transmission of unguided optical signals is known as [[optical wireless communications]] (OWC). Examples include medium-range [[visible light communication]] and short-distance [[Infrared Data Association|IrDA]], using infrared LEDs.