Methods, systems, and apparatus for global multiple-access optical communications
US10128949B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 26, 2016 |
| Grant date | Nov 13, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 13, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B23/00
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A wide-field telescope and focal plane array (FPA) that look at Earth and satellites in low- and medium-Earth orbit (LEO and MEO) from a satellite in higher orbit, such as geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), can serve as a node in an on-demand, optical multiple access (OMA) communications network. The FPA receives asynchronous low-rate signals from LEO and MEO satellites and ground stations at a signal rate determined in part by the FPA frame rate (e.g., kHz to MHz). A controller tracks the low-rate signals across the FPA as the signal sources orbit Earth. The node also includes one or more transmitters that relay the received information to other nodes via wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) free-space optical signals. These other signals may include low-rate telemetry communications, burst transmissions, and continuous data relay links.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.