Mitigation of atmospheric effects on terrestrial free-space optical communication systems

G. Stephen Mecherle

doi:10.1117/12.537593

16 June 2004 Mitigation of atmospheric effects on terrestrial free-space optical communication systems

G. Stephen Mecherle

Proceedings Volume 5338, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XVI; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.537593
Event: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2004, San Jose, Ca, United States

Abstract

The effects of the atmosphere on laser beam propagation are briefly reviewed, with the emphasis on scintillation and fog attenuation. It is shown that even saturated scintillation can be rendered harmless by the combination of receiver aperture averaging and multiple spatially diverse transmitters. Fog attenuation is shown to be the design driver for high availability links, and design techniques to increase the clear air link margin can improve link availability. Based on measured data from fSONA FSO hardware, it is shown that approximately four 9s of availability can be achieved in the most challenging North American cities at 350m range. With some design improvements (such as active pointing), FSO systems can potentially achieve four 9s availability at 1 km range.

Citation Download Citation

G. Stephen Mecherle "Mitigation of atmospheric effects on terrestrial free-space optical communication systems", Proc. SPIE 5338, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XVI, (16 June 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.537593

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