Airborne optical communications demonstrator design and pre-flight test results

Abhijit Biswas; Norman Page; Jerry Neal; David Zhu; Malcolm Wright; Gerardo G. Ortiz; William H. Farr; Hamid Hemmati

doi:10.1117/12.600834

18 April 2005 Airborne optical communications demonstrator design and pre-flight test results

Abhijit Biswas, Norman Page, Jerry Neal, David Zhu, Malcolm Wright, Gerardo G. Ortiz, William H. Farr, Hamid Hemmati

Proceedings Volume 5712, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XVII; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.600834
Event: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2005, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

A second generation optical communications demonstrator (OCD-2) intended for airborne applications like air-to-ground and air-to-air optical links is under development at JPL. This development provides the capability for unidirectional high data rate (2.5-Gbps) transmission at 1550-nm, with the ability to receive an 810-nm beacon to aid acquisition, pointing and tracking. The transmitted beam width is nominally 200-μrad. A 3x3 degree coarse field-of-view (FOV) acquisition sensor with a much smaller ~3-mrad FOV tracking sensor is incorporated. The OCD-2 optical head will be integrated to a high performance gimbal turret assembly capable of providing pointing stability of 5-microradians from an airborne platform. Other parts of OCD-2 include a cable harness, connecting the optical head in the gimbal turret assembly to a rugged electronics box. The electronics box will house: command and control processors, laser transmitter, data-generation-electronics, power conversion/distribution hardware and state-of-health monitors. The entire assembly will be integrated and laboratory tested prior to a planned flight demonstration.

Citation Download Citation

Abhijit Biswas, Norman Page, Jerry Neal, David Zhu, Malcolm Wright, Gerardo G. Ortiz, William H. Farr, and Hamid Hemmati "Airborne optical communications demonstrator design and pre-flight test results", Proc. SPIE 5712, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XVII, (18 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.600834

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