Taara has launched a dedicated planning platform for free-space optical communications, allowing network operators to assess prospective Lightbridge connections before installing physical terminals.
Taara Link Planner combines almost a decade of research originating at X, Google’s Moonshot Factory, with operational data collected from active optical links across different climates, geographies, and atmospheric conditions.
Users can enter an address or coordinates, position endpoints manually on a map, examine link distance, identify possible line-of-sight obstructions, adjust mounting height, and estimate expected availability throughout the year.
The platform has been developed for Taara Lightbridge, a fixed wireless system that transmits data through the air using a narrow, invisible beam of light. Two terminals establish the optical path without requiring a physical fibre cable between them.
Lightbridge can provide capacity of up to 20Gbps across distances reaching 20km in clear conditions. Applications include network extensions, difficult crossings, temporary capacity, rural connectivity, urban backhaul, and locations where fibre installation would be slow or expensive.
Availability calculations combine atmospheric conditions, terminal characteristics, link margin, and installation data. Fog, haze, rain, dust, temperature, humidity, turbulence, wind, and vibration can all influence how much optical power reaches the receiver and whether the beam remains aligned.
Taara says its predictions average within approximately one percentage point of measured availability where local weather data is available and terminals have been installed to specification. In locations with limited observations, the platform uses broader climate and atmospheric models to generate an estimate.
Mahesh Krishnaswamy, founder and chief executive officer of Taara, said: “Over the last decade, our deployments from dense cities and remote communities to some of the world’s most demanding atmospheric conditions have taught us how light behaves in the real world.”
Optical links require different planning assumptions
Radio planning tools cannot be transferred directly to free-space optics because the dominant physical effects differ. Radio systems are strongly influenced by spectrum allocation, interference, antenna characteristics, buildings, terrain, and propagation behaviour at the selected frequency.
Optical systems use a much narrower beam and operate within unlicensed optical spectrum, limiting interference and making interception more difficult. Accurate alignment and a clear path remain essential, while fog and dense atmospheric particles can attenuate light sharply even when a radio connection continues operating.
Mounting structures must keep the beam on target despite wind, vibration, thermal expansion, and building movement. A route that appears unobstructed during initial planning can later be affected by construction, seasonal vegetation, cranes, or other temporary structures.
Using a dedicated planning environment, engineers can examine these constraints before arranging site surveys, power, access, mounting structures, and installation teams. Several possible terminal positions can be compared before the project moves into detailed design.
Annual availability estimates become critical when an optical link carries operational traffic rather than serving as an experiment. A high-capacity connection that performs well in clear weather may still require a radio, fibre, or alternative optical path where short interruptions cannot be accepted.
Resilient architectures may combine Lightbridge with other transmission technologies, place optical links within a ring, or reserve them for routes where local visibility data supports the required service level. The planner provides an estimate around which those engineering decisions can be developed.
Optical communication capacity is expanding elsewhere within the network as demand for compound semiconductor photonics in data centres increases. Free-space systems address a different part of the infrastructure, replacing fibre between fixed points rather than carrying light through a cable.
Although wireless optical links avoid excavation, wayleaves, and some civil engineering, they do not remove infrastructure entirely. Each terminal requires secure mounting, power, network integration, maintenance access, and a path that remains optically clear throughout operation.
Taara has deployed Lightbridge in more than 20 countries with operators including T-Mobile, Airtel, Digicel, Liquid, and SoftBank. Measurements from that installed base give the planning model an empirical foundation extending beyond laboratory tests and historic weather assumptions.
The company has also introduced a browser-based total cost of ownership calculator, allowing network teams to examine expected availability and project economics before committing to detailed engineering.
Link Planner gives free-space optical communications a technology-specific design workflow comparable with tools used across established network technologies. Its value will be established by the accuracy of field predictions, particularly where local weather observations are sparse or mounting structures behave differently from the assumptions entered during planning.
