Free space optical communications terminal
US11431410B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 27, 2021 |
| Grant date | Aug 30, 2022 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 27, 2041 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B10/70
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A free space optical communications transmitter terminal including an optical source arranged to provide a first beam of light encoding information to be communicated; an optical source arranged to provide photons encoding bits of a key of a Quantum Key Distribution protocol; and an optics arrangement. The first beam and the photons are linearly polarised. The optics arrangement is configured to combine the first beam and the photons into a single, second, beam to be transmitted to a receiver terminal; and transform the linear polarisation of the first beam into one of left and right circular polarisation and transform the linear polarisation of the photons into the other of left and right circular polarisation. A receiver terminal receives the second beam, transforms the circular polarisations into orthogonal linear polarisations, and filters out the linear polarisation of the first beam to allow the photons to pass to a single photon detector.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.