Hemmati H. (ed.) Deep Space Optical Communications

John Wiley, 2006. — 723 p.The ever-increasing demand for data from planetary probe spacecraft is pushing the frequency of telecommunications from radio frequency (RF) bands to the optical and near-infrared regime. Such a transition offers the potential to increase data rates by one to two orders of magnitude over conventional RF links. Early NASA spacecraft telecom systems relied on the S-band frequency. Nearly twenty years later, X-band frequencies were implemented. Over twenty years later, the Ka-band systems are beginning to be implemented in deep space. For the optical band, we are now in the technology maturation and demonstration phase. It is expected that after a number of successful and convincing technology validation demonstrations, the optical band will also move into the implementation phase.
This reference text is intended to summarize and document the optical work performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) since inception of the Free- Space Optical Communication Group in late 1970s. This text provides an overview of nearly a quarter of century of research and development, performed by JPL’s Optical Communication Group, its associated researchers, and other optical-communications researchers throughout the world. The focus of the research effort has been deep space telecommunications. In recent years, the near-Earth communication technologies have been addressed also. The flight transceiver, the ground receiver, and uplink transmitter technologies were addressed.Link and System Design
The Atmospheric Channel
Optical Modulation and Coding
Flight Transceiver
Earth Terminal Architectures
Future Prospects and Applications