Demonstration of a high-efficiency free-space optical communications link

Kevin Birnbaum; William Farr; Jonathan Gin; Bruce Moision; Kevin Quirk; Malcolm Wright

doi:10.1117/12.809720

24 February 2009 Demonstration of a high-efficiency free-space optical communications link

Kevin Birnbaum, William Farr, Jonathan Gin, Bruce Moision, Kevin Quirk, Malcolm Wright

Proceedings Volume 7199, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XXI; 71990A (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.809720
Event: SPIE LASE: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2009, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

In this paper we discuss recent progress on the implementation of a hardware free-space optical communications test-bed. The test-bed implements an end-to-end communications system comprising a data encoder, modulator, laser-transmitter, telescope, detector, receiver and error-correction-code decoder. Implementation of each of the component systems is discussed, with an emphasis on 'real-world' system performance degradation and limitations. We have demonstrated real-time data rates of 44 Mbps and photon efficiencies of approximately 1.8 bits/photon over a 100m free-space optical link.

Citation Download Citation

Kevin Birnbaum, William Farr, Jonathan Gin, Bruce Moision, Kevin Quirk, and Malcolm Wright "Demonstration of a high-efficiency free-space optical communications link", Proc. SPIE 7199, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XXI, 71990A (24 February 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.809720

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