Demonstration of a Low-SWaP Terminal for Ground-to-Air Single-Mode Fiber Coupled Laser Links

Abstract

Free space optical technology promises to revolutionize point-to-point communications systems. By taking advantage of their vastly higher frequencies, coherent optical systems outperform their radio counterparts by orders of magnitude in achievable data throughput, while simultaneously lowering the required size, weight, and power (SWaP), making them ideal for mobile applications. However, the widespread implementation of this technology has been largely hindered by the effects of atmospheric turbulence, often necessitating complex higher-order adaptive optics systems that are largely unsuitable for deployment on mobile platforms. By employing tip/tilt beam-stabilization, we present the results of a bespoke low-SWaP optical terminal that demonstrated single-mode fiber (SMF) coupling. This was achieved by autonomously acquiring and tracking the targets using a combination of aircraft transponder and machine vision feedback to a root-mean-square (RMS) tracking error of 29.4 µrad and at angular rates of up to 0.83 deg/s. To the authors’ knowledge, these works constitute the first published SMF coupled optical link to a full-sized helicopter, and we describe derived quantities relevant to the future refinement of such links. The ability to achieve SMF coupling without the constraints of complex adaptive optics systems positions this technology as a versatile quantum-capable communications solution for land-, air-, and sea-based platforms ranging across commercial, scientific, and military operators.