TILBA-ATMO | Free-Space Optic Telecom Receiver

• Earth-space laser communication: Thanks to our beam shaping technology, the TILBA-ATMO component improves the reliability of free-space optical links between the earth and satellites

Requirements:

As the number of active satellites continues to grow, with almost 2,000 in orbit at the end of 2018, the reliability and throughput of space-based communication is of fundamental importance. The increase in the amount of data and the change in uses also leads to a sharp rise in requirements. Examples include the deployment of the Internet via satellites, or space exploration missions generating significant amounts of data that have to be downloaded to Earth. While until recently RF communication has been sufficient for information exchange between satellites or with Earth, conventional RF channels are now completely saturated.

Laser communication uses the propagation of light in vacuum and air to exchange information. Faster, safer, more compact and easier to deploy than radio frequencies, it does not require an allocated frequency band. For example, an RF link would take nine years to download a very high resolution image of Mars, while the same download would take only nine weeks with laser communication. This has therefore become the new standard for communication links to satellite constellations.

Problem:

However, laser communication is severely limited by atmospheric turbulence. These turbulences affect the phase and intensity of the light beam due to the inhomogeneity and constant movement of the air, thus degrading the link quality. Furthermore, in order to be reliably detected, light is collected in a single-mode optical fiber (SMF). This has the advantage of being compatible with components benefiting from a technologically mature telecom industry. However, when the wavefront is perturbed, light couples less efficiently into the single-mode fibers, causing additional losses that further degrade the signal quality.

Our solution:

Thanks to our beam shaping technology, the TILBA-ATMO component improves the reliability of free-space optical links between the earth and satellites by:

1. Increasing the range and robustness of laser communication in atmospheric turbulent environments.
2. Using passive components, which are therefore not limited in bandwidth.
3. Being compatible with standard telecom systems such as detectors and amplifiers.