Wide-beam atmospheric optical communication for aircraft application using semiconductor diodes

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Wireless Communication
• Photonics

Background:

• Traditional optical communication systems often require complex gimbaled pointing and tracking mountings.
• Atmospheric optical communication presents challenges due to beam divergence and environmental factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe design considerations for atmospheric optical communication systems utilizing wide divergent beams.
• To eliminate the need for complex gimbaled pointing and tracking systems.
• To evaluate system performance under various ambient conditions.

Main Methods:

• Designed and constructed communication systems using infrared LED and laser diodes (0.8-0.9 microm).
• Developed single-channel and multichannel receivers with fields of view (FOVs) from 0.4 to 24 degrees.
• Conducted laboratory simulations to assess operating margins and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).

Main Results:

• Systems demonstrated effective communication over approximately 1 km.
• Performance was evaluated under diverse ambient conditions.
• Identified the necessity of narrow spectral bandwidth and wide-angle FOV interference filters.

Conclusions:

• Wide divergent beam atmospheric optical communication systems simplify design and reduce complexity.
• These systems are suitable for low data rate (few kbit/sec) applications like aircraft-to-aircraft data exchange or voice communication.
• Optimization of filters is crucial for effective performance in varying conditions.