High Speed Laser Optical Comms

[Ian33]

http://spie.org/x114709.xml

.To show the potential and maturity of the technology, we demonstrated a high-rate optical downlink from a fast-flying jetfighter to a German Aerospace Center (DLR) ground station. The maximum speed was 0.7 Mach, and the data rate was 1.25Gb/s. A qualified dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transceiver was used to show compatibility with standard components from fiber communication technology. The experiment was conducted within the framework of the Demonstration of Optical Data link fast (DODfast) project, a collaboration between the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation, Airbus Defence and Space, and ViaLight Communications. The air carrier was a Panavia Tornado, and the ground station was the DLR's transportable optical ground station (TOGS).

This system caught my eye as I met an very bright young man who assures me that a variant of this design will be the
defacto communications method for future low observable airframes, and that it will be a system of optical Windows to both transmit and receive information placed around the body to give total hemispherical coverage.

 

[sublight_]

There are already low observable platforms doing laser comms. Just not at gigabits per second.

 

[Ian33]

There are already low observable platforms doing laser comms. Just not at gigabits per second.

Oh man..... Don't leave it like that! Any hints at all?

 

[fredymac]

This video dates to mid 2010. I don't know how small you can shrink the optical transmitter/receiver due to beam divergence/signal-to-noise tradeoffs. A coelostat arrangement with everything tucked into the airframe minus a single gimbaled 4 inch turning flat would be an alternative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJS_TrYfFo

 

[markfward]

Some years ago I was (mistakenly) looked at by recruiters from a major aerospace org. They apparently found me due to experience with public key cryptography. They somehow assumed I also had experience with laser sat to sat and sat to a/c comms & optics -- which I certainly do not. The only optics I know are straight from the notes of Mr. Newton which I learned as an undergraduate. and I'm rusty. However, they kept calling for many weeks. I hope they found their man. Anyway, it seems clear 0's and 1's are being sent via various wavelengths of laser (I will keep that part private, as I'm guessing the recruiter probably shouldn't have been yapping about it).

 

[jsport]

Space-based optical communications: updating SATCOM for the information age

Space-based laser communications are central to DoD’s plans for JADC2. The efforts are underfunded, and the cost of inaction is high, an analyst argues.

www.c4isrnet.com

 

[jsport]

Capella to demonstrate first SARsat-based laser communications for SDA - Breaking Defense

Optical intersatellite links, or OISLs, use lasers to zip data between satellites on orbit — a technology that is both the central node and the biggest challenge in SDA's effort to build a multi-layered National Defense Space Architecture.

breakingdefense.com

 

[jsport]

A leap forward for terahertz lasers

Boston MA (SPX) Jan 27, 2022 - Researchers have taken a major step towards bringing terahertz frequencies out of their hard-to-reach region of the electromagnetic spectrum and into everyday applications. In a new paper, the resea

www.spacedaily.com