Patent · US Active

Multiple-input method and apparatus of free-space optical communication

US9048950B2 · kind B2 · utility

13Cited by
10References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 29, 2010
Grant dateJun 2, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 24, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04B10/613
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An approach is provided that uses diversity to compensate fading of free-space optical (FSO) signals propagating through an environment characterized by atmospheric scintillation. One embodiment involves collecting at least one FSO beam, demultiplexing the beam by wavelength into at least two sub-beams, detecting each sub-beam to produce an electrical output therefrom, and recovering a signal using complementary information from at least two of the electrical outputs. Another embodiment involves collecting the FSO beam onto an array of spatially separated sub-apertures, detecting the light entering each sub-aperture to produce an electrical output therefrom, and recovering a signal using complementary information from at least two of the electrical outputs. This second embodiment enables both electronic adaptive processing to coherently integrate across the sub-apertures and in the case of multiple transmit apertures a free space optical Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.