Free-space optical (FSO) communication systems have seen significant developments in recent years due to growing
need for very high data rates and tap-proof communication. The operation of an FSO link is suited to diverse variety of
applications such as satellites, High Altitude Platforms (HAPs), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), aircrafts, ground
stations and other areas involving both civil and military situations. FSO communication systems face challenges due to
different effects of the atmospheric channel. FSO channel primarily suffers from scintillation effects due to Index of
Refraction Turbulence (IRT). In addition, acquisition and pointing becomes more difficult because of the high directivity
of the transmitted beam: Miss-pointing of the transmitted beam and tracking errors at the receiver generate additional
fading of the optical signal. High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) are quasi-stationary vehicles operating in the stratosphere.
The slowly varying but precisely determined time-of-flight of the Inter-HAP channel adds to its characteristics. To
propose a suitable ARQ scheme, proper theoretical understanding of the optical atmospheric propagation and modeling
of a specific scenario FSO channel is required. In this paper, a bi-directional symmetrical Inter-HAP link has been
selected and modeled. The Inter-HAP channel model is then investigated via simulations in terms of optical scintillation
induced by IRT and in presence of pointing error. The performance characteristic of the model is then quantified in terms
of fading statistics from which the Packet Error Probability (PEP) is calculated. Based on the PEP characteristics, we
propose suitable ARQ schemes.
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