Patent ID: 8548332

Claim:
An indirect optical free-space communication system for broadband transmission of high-speed data by way of multiple independent cells within an interior of a transportation device, comprising: a transmitter that has a modulable light source, and a receiver that has a photodetector to receive light emitted by the transmitter without requiring a direct line-of-sight connection between the transmitter and the receiver and without requiring cabling, said light being converted into an electric signal, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are directed at at least one shared surface, which reflects the light emitted by the transmitter before it reaches the receiver, wherein said transmitter is one of a plurality of transmitters and said receiver is one of a plurality of receivers, wherein the free-space communication system is designed as a cellular system having the multiple independent cells arranged in rows within the transportation device, each of the multiple independent cells comprising one of said transmitters and at least one respective receiver, and wherein adjacent cells of the multiple independent cells are designed to utilize different wavelengths so as to prevent crosstalk with a neighboring cell so that the cells are independent of one another.