Citation
Abstract
Over the past 3 years, JPL has been heavily engaged in designing and developing a reduced-complexity optical communication terminal for high-data-volume applications. The terminal is called the Optical Communication Demonstrator (OCD) and has the ability to point microradian-level beams with a very small number of detectors and steering elements. Using only a single steering mirror and a chargecoupled device (CCD) detector array, the OCD can accomplish the functions of beacon signal acquisition, beacon tracking, transmit and receive beam coalignment, and transmit beam point-ahead offset. At a higher system level, developing an understanding of the OCD performance is an essential part of achieving a better understanding of the end-to-end optical communication system performance in the field. During the latter half of fiscal year 1998, a series of experiments was conducted between Table Mountain and Strawberry Peak using the OCD as a transmitting terminal for terrestrial groundto-ground optical link demonstrations. The OCD was taken to Strawberry Peak and set up to receive the multibeam laser beacon from the 0.6-meter telescope located at Table Mountain, a distance of approximately 40 kilometers. In the presence of atmospheric effects, the laser beacon will fluctuate both in intensity and position. The ability to determine the performance of the control loop under atmosphericinduced fades and distortion becomes very important in evaluating the results of the field testing. This article describes the design and performance of the OCD digital control loop system, which includes the steering mirror, the CCD detector array tracker, and the associated electronics. The digital control loop performance is a key factor in the ultimate performance of the laser beacon acquisition and tracking algorithm of the OCD. A model of the OCD digital control loop is developed for use in simulations. The analytical results from control loop simulations are compared with measured data. The analytical model of an improved steering mirror is substituted into the simulation. The results of the simulation indicate that, in order to realize the benefits of upgrading to a faster steering mirror, the system time delays must be minimized. 1Communications Systems and Research Section.
Keywords
Details
- Volume
- 42-136
- Published
- February 15, 1999
- Pages
- 1–13
- File Size
- 415.8 KB