Improvements in and relating to free-space optical communications

A multi-aperture free-space optical communications receiver 1 comprises a plurality of telescopes 2, each having a clear objective aperture 7 with a diameter between 50mm and 250mm. Each telescope is arranged in association with a respective wavefront detector and a steerable reflector unit 9, inclu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Michael Stewart Griffith, Stephen Derek Finch, Andrew James Williams
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 15.07.2020
Subjects
ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
ELECTRICITY
OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS
OPTICS
PHYSICS
TRANSMISSION
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Summary:A multi-aperture free-space optical communications receiver 1 comprises a plurality of telescopes 2, each having a clear objective aperture 7 with a diameter between 50mm and 250mm. Each telescope is arranged in association with a respective wavefront detector and a steerable reflector unit 9, including a deformable mirror controlled by the wavefront detector. The deformable mirror corrects for a non-flat wavefront 12. The steerable reflector steers light from the telescope into an optical fibre 14, which is connected to a respective optical receiver 3. A coherent combiner unit 4 is configured to coherently combine the signals from each optical detector. The deformable mirror is preferably a zonal bimorph deformable mirror (ZBDM) and the wavefront detector is preferably a Shack-Harmann wavefront sensor. Each deformable mirror may have a plurality of apertures in its reflective surface, each in optical communication with the wavefront detector. At least one of the optical receivers may share its telescope with a transmitter. The steerable reflector may have a tilting or/and tipping function. The invention may be applied in optical satellite communication ground stations.
Bibliography:Application Number: GB20180020774