Multipoint free-space optics system for short-range communications between flight platforms

The problems associated with using typical free-space optics (FSO) transceivers for multipoint communications on flight platforms, such as satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles, in a cluster are discussed and the transceivers are found to be unsuitable for concurrent multipoint communications in those platforms. To overcome the problems, a multipoint FSO system design is proposed. The design of the multipoint system is described and the performance of the multipoint receiver is evaluated in terms of receive gain under different conditions. The proposed multipoint system design offers a promising way to implement concurrent multipoint communications on flight platforms with power, weight, and size advantages compared to the use of multiple transceivers. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America