Methods and Devices for Space Optical Communications Using Laser Beams

Goorjian, Peter M [Inventor]

关键词: LASERS;    LIGHT BEAMS;    OPTICAL COMMUNICATION;    SPACE COMMUNICATION;    LASER BEAMS;    LENSES;    PHOTOMETERS;    PATENTS;    INVENTIONS;   

RP-ID  :  US-Patent-9,954,613, US-Patent-Appl-SN-15/710,478

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

Light is used to communicate between objects separated by a large distance. Light beams are received in a telescopic lens assembly positioned in front of a cat's-eye lens. The light can thereby be received at various angles to be output by the cat's-eye lens to a focal plane of the cat's-eye lens, the position of the light beams upon the focal plane corresponding to the angle of the beam received. Lasers and photodetectors are distributed along this focal plane. A processor receives signals from the photodetectors, and selectively signal lasers positioned proximate the photodetectors detecting light, in order to transmit light encoding data through the cat's-eye lens and also through a telescopic lens back in the direction of the received light beams, which direction corresponds to a location upon the focal plane of the transmitting lasers.