Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Objectives: The need for constricting, lightweight, low-power electronics-aggravated by the thriving demand for large data flow rate and bandwidth is urging the use of optical technologies in defense and space. Free space optical (FSO) communication links have promising eminence over microwave communication links with high speed, low weight, and increased security so that they can be boarded conveniently on the satellite.

Methods/findings: The advancement of the optical components and systems has made it very predominant along with its acceptability in space and defense. Yet a couple of significant components to be dealt with are tracking problems with misalignment of the transmitter and receiver apertures and the progressions because of barometrical conditions. Efficiency of the FSO communication system is seriously rotted due to the angle of arrival (AoA) variance and including error pointing. The optical transmitter can be perfectly coordinated with the receiver by utilizing the pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT). However, this method is to be carried out under the airborne platform with required restrictions namely size, weight, and power.

Application: An overview of promising inter-satellite applications with the challenges have been discussed which sway the performance of the system and make the communication link unattainable. The FSO communication possesses an advantage over two existing technologies optical fiber communication and wireless communication. Hence, the significant use of FSO is intersatellite optical wireless communication (Is OWC) links, which will be deployed in the future in space.

Keywords: Angle-of-arrival Variance (AoA), Free-space Optical Communication, Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking (PAT)