X-lumin, a privately held free-space optical communications company based in Merritt Island, Florida, reported 400 Gbps full-duplex wireless optical transmission on a live terrestrial link deployed in West Palm Beach. The company said its “TeraLink” system was validated using test equipment from VIAVI Solutions, with results generated in a commercial environment rather than a laboratory setting.
The deployment connects two commercial buildings—One Flagler and 360 Rosemary—using a laser-based optical link integrated with routing and coherent optics from Cisco Systems. X-lumin reported measured performance of 400 Gbps throughput, 0.0243 millisecond latency, 0.003 microsecond jitter, and a frame loss ratio of 0.00384. The system has been installed since October 2025. However, the company did not disclose the transmission distance between endpoints or the environmental conditions under which the performance metrics were recorded—factors that materially influence free-space optical link performance.
X-lumin positions its FSO technology as a complementary option to fiber and microwave backhaul, citing faster deployment timelines and the absence of spectrum licensing requirements. The company also highlights potential use cases in 5G and future 6G backhaul, campus interconnects, and applications requiring optical-layer transport without electrical conversion. At the same time, the absence of span length, availability data, and weather-related performance metrics limits direct comparison with established carrier-grade infrastructure across broader operating conditions.
- 400 Gbps bidirectional (full-duplex) optical wireless transmission reported in a commercial deployment
- Validation performed using VIAVI Solutions transport test platform
- Reported metrics: 0.0243 ms latency (~24.3 microseconds), 0.003 microsecond jitter, 0.00384 frame loss ratio
- Deployment connects two buildings in West Palm Beach using Cisco Systems routing and OpenZR+ optics
- Link distance, environmental conditions, and long-term availability metrics were not disclosed
“We intentionally designed TeraLink to be interoperable with existing telco infrastructure – it is a Layer-2 agnostic system, and is fiber-coupled for a fully optical solution. Without any O-E-O conversion it is able to support Quantum 2.0 technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution and Quantum Timing. Adding the terabyte bandwidth and low latency makes TeraLink foundational infrastructure for resilient future cities, AI, and datacenter interconnects.” — John Stryjewski, PhD, CTO and Co-Founder, X-lumin
🌐 Analysis: X-lumin’s reported 400 Gbps result highlights continued progress in terrestrial free-space optical systems, particularly as demand grows for rapid, high-capacity interconnects in dense urban and campus environments. At the same time, FSO performance is highly dependent on link distance, alignment stability, and atmospheric conditions, none of which were detailed in the announcement. Comparable solutions in metro networking continue to include fiber densification, millimeter-wave backhaul, and other optical wireless approaches, with evaluation typically based on sustained throughput, availability, and performance across varying environmental conditions.
