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Seminar report

microwave and radar engineering (Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology)

Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university

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LASER COMMUNICATION IN SPACE

A SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted by
MALOTH MURALI KRISHNA
(Roll Number:1601-18-735-032)

in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of

B.E.

IN
ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

C…B…I…T…(A)

HYDERABAD -500 075

APRIL 2022

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Abstract

Space communication systems currently use radio waves for both near-earth and
deep space applications. However, when the distance of objects from the earth increases,
latency becomes an issue for space communication, especially for large amounts of data
when radio waves are used. Laser communications offer a viable alternative to RF
communications for inter-satellite links and other applications where high-performance
links are necessary. Laser communication in space is the use of free-space optical
communication in outer space. The objective of this study is to understand the working
of laser communication and the ways in which it is being implemented to achieve
communication in space.

Laser communication provides higher bandwidth thus enabling the transfer of more
data in less time. It works similar to fibre optic links, except the beam is transmitted
through free space. Infrared lasers are used to send data to and from space. The carrier used
for the transmission of this signal is generated by either a high power LED or a laser diode.
Two parallel beams are used, one for transmission and one for the reception. Laser space
communication systems can be easily deployed since they are inexpensive, small, low
power and do not require any radio interference studies. It is the fastest form of data
transmission currently available. Other advantages of using laser space communications
are large throughput, small antenna size, and narrow beam divergence resulting in
interference-free transmission.

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Table Of Contents

Abstract

Abbreviations i

List of Figures ii

1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 2
3. Laser Communication System 3
3.1. Structure of laser communication system
3.2. Features of a laser communication system
4. System Design Parameters 4
4.1. Link Parameters 4
4.2. Transmitter Parameters 5
4.3. Receiver Parameters 5
5. Working of Laser Communication in Space 6
5.1. Operation
5.2. Laser beam pointing, acquisition and tracking
6. Advantages of Laser Communication 10
7. Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD)
7.1. Introduction 10
7.2. Construction and Working 12
8. Future Scope 13
9. Conclusion 14

References 15

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Abbreviations

RF Radio Frequency
FSO Free Space Optics
FSLC Free Space Laser Communication
FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array
FOV Field of View
LED Light Emitting Diode
FOR Field of Regard
LCRD Laser Communication Relay Demonstration
NASA National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
OST Optical Space Terminal
HMOC Host Mission Operations Center
LEO Low Earth Orbit
OGSs Optical Ground Stations
CE Controller Electronics
SSU Space Switching Unit
GEO Geostationary Orbit

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List of Figures
Figure No. Title Page No.
1.1 Diagram of Laser Communication in Space 1
3.1 Block diagram of a laser communication system 3
3.2 Laser communication system 4
4.1 Laser Communication Link 5
5.1 Pointing tracking and acquisition block diagram 7
5.2 Process of laser beam acquisition, tracking and pointing 8
7.1 LCRD Block Diagram 11
7.2 DSOC Diagram 12
7.3 Block diagram of LCRD payload 13

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1. Introduction

Lasers have been considered for space communications since their realization in
1960. However, it was soon recognized that, although the laser had the potential for the
transfer of data at extremely high rates, specific advancements were needed in component
performance and systems engineering, particularly for space-qualified hardware. Advances
in system architecture, data formatting, and component technology over the past three
decades have made laser communications in space not only viable but also an attractive
approach to inter-satellite link applications.

Information transfer is driving the requirements to higher data rates, laser cross-link
technology explosions, global development activity, increased hardware, and design
maturity. Most important in space laser communications has been the development of a
reliable, high power, single-mode laser diode as a directly modulable laser source. This
technology advance offers the space laser communication system designer the flexibility to
design very lightweight, high bandwidth, low-cost communication payloads for satellites
whose launch costs are a very strong function of launch weigh

As shown in Fig 1.1.The high data rate and large information throughput available
with laser communications are many times greater than in radio frequency (RF) systems.
The small antenna size requires only a small increase in the weight and volume of the host
vehicle. In addition, this feature substantially reduces the blockage of fields of view of the
most desirable areas on satellites. Fewer onboard consumables are required over the long
lifetime because there are fewer disturbances to the satellite compared with larger and
heavier RF systems. The narrow beam divergence affords interference-free and secure
operation.

Fig 1.1:Diagram of Laser Communication in Space

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2. Literature Survey

1 Study on Laser Communication: Features, Application, Advantages by Prof. Atul

A. Padghan and Prof. Ankit P. Jaiswal Dr.R.N.Lahoti Polytechnic, Sultanpur, Uttar
Pradesh. This paper presents the working and applications of laser
communication and its advantages over communication through radio waves.
It talks about the features of a laser communication system, its operation, and
the system design parameters like link parameters, transmitter parameters,
receiver parameters, etc.

2 Free Space LASER Communication by Himanshu Dubey, Jaipal Singh Rathore,

Pradeep Paliwal department of electronics and communication engineering
Shrinathji Institute of Tech. & Engg. Nathdwara, India. This paper talks about the
working of laser communication in free space and the different ways in
which it can be implemented. It gives the basic operation of a laser
communication system and how an FSLC (Free-space laser communication)
system can be designed using an FPGA (Field programmable gate array. It
tests the system aspects like resource utilization, area estimation and power
estimation.

3 Free Space Optical Communications: An Overview by M. N. O. Sadiku S.M.

Musa College of Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX.
This paper presents an introduction to FSO and the current state of its technology.
It explains what free space optics is and how it is different from conventional
optical communication. FSO technology is explained along with major market
drivers and how it is deployed.

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3. Laser Communication System

3.1. Structure of laser communication system
The basic laser communication system consists of three important parts, the
transmitter, the laser to be transmitted and the receiver as shown in Fig 3.1. The laser is the
medium through which communication takes place. The transmitting side contains signal
processing electronics, laser source and laser modulator. A laser diode can be used as a
laser source. The receiving side consists of an antenna, signal processor and detector. A
phototransistor can be used for detecting the received signal.

Fig 3.1. Block diagram of a laser communication system

3.2. Features of a laser communication system

A block diagram of the typical terminal is illustrated in Fig 3.2. Information,
typically in the form of digital data, is input to data electronics that modulates the
transmitting laser source. Direct or indirect modulation techniques may be employed
depending on the type of laser employed. The source output passes through an optical
system into the channel. The optical system typically includes transfer, beam shaping, and
telescope optics. The receiver beam comes in through the optical system and is passed
along to detectors and signal processing electronics. There are also terminal control
electronics that must control the gimbals and other steering mechanisms, and servos, to
keep the acquisition and tracking system operating in the designed modes of operation.

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Fig 3.2: Laser communication system

4. System Design Parameters

The key system characteristics which when quantified, together gives a detailed
description of a laser communications system. These are identified and quantified for a
particular application. The critical parameters are grouped into three major categories:
link, transmitter and receiver parameters as shown in Fig 4.1.

4.1. Link Parameters

The link parameters include the type of laser, wavelength, type of link, and the
required signal criterion. Today the lasers typically used in free-space laser
communications are the semiconductor laser diodes, solid-state lasers, or fibre amplifier
lasers. Laser sources are described as operating in either single or multiple longitudinal
modes. In the single longitudinal mode operation the laser emits radiation at a single
frequency, while in the multiple longitudinal modes, multiple frequencies are emitted.

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Semiconductor diodes are generally used as a laser source. A variety of materials have
been proposed for laser transmitters: neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:
YAG) is the most widely used. Operating at 1064 nm, these lasers require an external
modulator leading to a slight increase in complexity and reliability. With the rapid
development of terrestrial fibre communications, a wide array of components is available
for potential applications in space. These include detectors, lasers, multiplexers,
amplifiers, optical preamplifiers etc. Operating at 1550nm erbium-doped fibre amplifiers
have been developed for commercial optical fibre communications that offer levels of
performance consistent with many free-space communications. There are three basic link
types: acquisition, tracking and communications. The major differences between the link
types are reflected in the required signal criterion for each.

Fig 4.1: Laser Communication Link

4.2. Transmitter Parameters

The transmitter parameter consists of certain key laser characteristics, losses
incurred in the transmitter optical path, transmit antennae gain, and transmit pointing
losses. Transmit optical path loss is made up of optical transmission losses and the loss due
to the wavefront quality of the transmitting optics. The wavefront error loss is analogous to
the surface roughness loss associated with the RF antennas. The optic transmits antenna
gain is analogous to the antenna gain in the RF systems and describes the on-axis gain
relative to an isotropic radiator with the distribution of the transmitted laser radiation
defining the transmit antenna gain.

4.3. Receiver Parameters

The receiver parameters are the receiver antenna gain, the receive optical path loss,
the optical filter bandwidth and the receiver field of view. The receiver antenna gain is

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proportional to the square of effective receiver diameter in metres and inversely

proportional to the square of the wavelength. The receiver optical path loss is simply the
optical transmission loss for systems employing direct detection techniques. The optical
filter bandwidth specifies the spectral width of the narrow bandpass filter employed in
optical inter-satellite links. Optical filters reduce the amount of unwanted background
entering the system. The optical width of the filter must be compatible with the spectral
width of the laser source. The final optical parameter is the angular field of view (FOV), in
radians which limits the background power of an extended source incident on the detector.
To maximize the rejection, the FOV should be as small as possible.

5. Working of Laser Communication in Space

5.1. Operation
Free space laser communications systems are wireless connections through the
atmosphere. They work similarly to fibre optic cable systems except the beam is
transmitted through open space. The carrier used for the transmission of this signal is
generated by either a high power LED or a laser diode as shown in Fig 5.1. The laser
systems operate in the near-infrared region of the spectrum. The laser light across the link
is at a wavelength of between 780 – 920 nm. Two parallel beams are used, one for
transmission and one for the reception. Once the laser communication system is set up, the
next steps in the operation of laser communication are laser pointing, acquisition and
tracking. After the link is established data transfer takes place.

5.2. Laser beam pointing, acquisition and tracking

The use of extremely narrow optical beams for a satellite cross-link introduces
obvious beam pointing problems. The transmitting satellite should transmit the narrowest
possible beam for maximum power concentration. For this reason pointing, acquisition and
tracking systems are used to close and efficient laser communication links. In the pointing
phase, the terminal performs a scan in the whole Field-of- Regard (FoR) until the
communication partner has been located – this is called acquisition. In the tracking phase,
either a communication beam and a beacon beam or two communication beams are kept in
a closed tracking loop to achieve proper angular orientation.

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Fig 5.1: Pointing tracking and acquisition block diagram

The acquisition is generally the most difficult because laser beams are typically
much smaller than the area of uncertainty. Satellites do not know exactly where they are or
where the other platform is located and since everything moves with some degree of
uncertainty, they cannot take very long to search or the reference is lost. In an ideal
acquisition method, the beamwidth of the source is greater than the angle of uncertainty in
the location of the receiver.From the Fig 5.2, The receiver field includes the location
uncertainty of the transmitter. Unfortunately, this ideal method requires a significant
amount of laser power. It is possible to operate a number of laser types at high peak power
and low duty cycle to make acquisition easier. This is because a lower pulse rate is needed
for an acquisition than for tracking and communications. A low duty cycle transmitter
gives high peak power, yet requires less average power and is thus a suitable source for
acquisition. As the uncertainty area becomes less, it becomes more feasible to use a
continuous source of acquisition.

After the pointing, acquisition or tracking process is completed the laser link
between the transmitter and receiver is formed. Data transfer can take place across the
link. Data is transmitted at a high rate and high throughput with low latency.

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Fig 5.2: Process of laser beam acquisition, tracking and pointing

Several approaches to tracking have been used in laser communications. Without

the ability to return a beam along the line of sight towards the companion terminal,
communications cannot take place. Tracking systems can be divided in two distinct
categories. The first category involves those systems that derive the track information
from communication signals. The second technique set concerns those systems that use a
separate laser beacon to track. The first technique to track signals is dc tracking. The term

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is used to describe tracking the laser source by integrating the received amplitude-
modulated signal over a large number of cycles or pulses. Commonly, an integrating type
of detector such as CCD, which will be optimized to the track bandwidth, would be used to
track the beam. With dc tracking, the drawback is the susceptibility to optical background,
especially point sources in the field of view (FOV). DC tracking is not recommended
because unique discrimination is not possible without very narrow line width filtering of
the signal. A second technique for tracking a communication signal is pulse tracking. This
technique is used when the communication source is also a pulse waveform but can be
used also as an independent beacon channel. With pulse tracking system, each pulse is
detected with the receiver threshold and uses this information to generate a high-bandwidth
tracking error signal from the track quadrants. Pulse tracking has a high-bandwidth
receiver front end to effectively detect very short pulses. In the dc system, the bandwidth is
dependent upon the communication system, pulse width and pulse rate. Another technique
of tracking systems that derives a track signal by squaring the communication waveform to
generate a tracking signal is Square-Law Tracking. This technique can be used most
effectively when a single quasi-CW modulated source is used for communication.
Squaring the incident signal waveform at twice the signal bandwidth generates a harmonic
signal. This harmonic signal can then be phase-locked and used to generate the quadrant
track errors. One inconvenience with this technique is that the track signal is twice the
communication bandwidth and the tracking system is more dependent upon the data rate.
Tone tracking involves transmitting a separate tone beacon via an additional laser source or
modulating the tone into the communication waveform. In this type of modulated tone, the
frequency does not interfere with the message content of the communication waveform. If
a wavelength separation is available it could involve a separate detector. By using coherent
waveform techniques, spatial inter satellite tracking can be achieved. Coherent techniques
use the high front-end local oscillator gain to compensate for downstream noises. There are
others approaches to track a system using Non conventional Tracking Techniques like
Gimbals-Only Tracking and Feed-Forward Tracking.

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6. Advantages of Laser Communication over Radio Waves in Space

Laser communications offer a viable alternative to RF communications for inter-

satellite links and other applications where high-performance links are necessary. The high
data rate, small antenna size, narrow beam divergence, and narrow field of view are
characteristics of laser communication that offer a number of potential advantages for
system design. The high data rate and large information throughput available with laser
communications are many times greater than in radio frequency (RF) systems. The small
antenna size requires only a small increase in the weight and volume of the host vehicle. In
addition, this feature substantially reduces the blockage of fields of view of the most
desirable areas on satellites. The smaller antennas, with diameters typically less than 30cm,
create less momentum disturbance to any sensitive satellite sensors. The narrow beam
divergence affords interference-free and secure operation. Additionally, optical
communications provide decreased size, weight, and power requirements. A smaller size
means more room for science instruments. Less weight means a less expensive launch.
Less power means less drain on the spacecraft's batteries. With optical communications
supplementing radio, missions will have unparalleled communications capabilities.

7. Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD)

7.1. Introduction
Laser communication relay demonstration is the latest development in laser
communication. It was tested by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA). The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) aims to showcase the
unique capabilities of optical communications. LCRD is a two-way laser relay
communications system, that sends and receives data over invisible infrared lasers,
which can enable data rates 10 to 100 times greater than radio frequency systems.
LCRD does not require direct line of sight conditions since it is relay-based. Until its
first user is launched, LCRD will practice sending test data to and from its ground stations.
This test data will be sent up through radio frequency signals from the mission operations
center and then the LCRD spacecraft will reply over optical signals. This test data will

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include spacecraft health data; tracking, telemetry, and command data; and sample user
data to ensure LCRD is properly operating.
In December 2021, NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)
should finally launch as part of USAF STP-3, to communicate between geosynchronous
orbit and the Earth's surface. Laser communications in deep space will be tested on the
Psyche mission to the main-belt asteroid 16 Psyche, planned to launch in 2022. The system
is called Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)( from Fig 7.2) and is expected to
increase spacecraft communications performance and efficiency by 10 to 100 times over
conventional means.

Fig 7.1:LCRD Block Diagram

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Fig 7.2:DSOC Diagram

7.2. Construction and Working

LCRD is a relay satellite with many highly sensitive components that provide
increased communications. As a relay, LCRD removes the need for user missions to have
direct line-of-sight to antennas on Earth. From Fig 7.3, LCRD has two optical terminals
– one terminal receives data from a user spacecraft, while the other transmits data to
ground stations on Earth.
The LCRD flight payload, consisting of two OSTs (Optical Space Terminals) and
associated electronics, will be hosted onboard an SSL-built communications satellite. The
satellite operator will have an HMOC (Host Mission Operations Center) through which
payload commands and telemetry will be routed. LCRD will employ simulators to
demonstrate forward and return relay links and direct uplink/downlink. The flexibility and
scalability of the LCRD architecture enable support to terrestrial, airborne, and Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) users. LCRD will also demonstrate optical communications networking
capabilities including the use of an LMOC (LCRD Mission Operations Center), multiple
OGSs (Optical Ground Stations), OGS handovers, degraded operations, user service
recovery from link interruption due to clouds, operating through orbital events and
spacecraft maneuvers, and coordinated network flight and ground segment operations.
LCRD will fly two optical modules, as opposed to the single optical module on LLCD.
The CE (Controller Electronics) of each optical space terminal will be a commercially
procured update of the LLCD CE. There will be an SSU (Space Switching Unit) to connect
the two optical links together for the real-time relay. The LLCD optical module design has

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been modified for GEO applications to make the system more robust. The optical
module

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components have been transferred to Industry and are being procured and integrated by
NASA/GSFC. There will also be two flight modems.

Fig 7.3: Block Diagram of LCRD Payload

8. Future Scope
Space laser communication technology is a major communication technology for
space broadband information transmission in the future and has the advantages of high
bandwidth, fast and convenient transmission, and low cost. It is the best means to cover
the“last kilometre” of information transmission. With missions developing more highly
detailed science and larger volumes of data, radio-based communication links can be
overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data being pushed to the ground, providing a need
for higher data rates that can only be achieved with optical communication. Lasers could
be used to develop extremely fast communications systems when integrated with silicon
photonics. Some of the future missions using laser communication include DSOC and
NICT demonstration of the fastest bidirectional lasercom link between the geosynchronous
orbit and the ground at 10 Gbit/s by using the HICALI (High-speed Communication with
Advanced Laser Instrument) lasercom terminal onboard the ETS-9 (Engineering Test
Satellite IX) satellite, as well as the first inter-satellite link at the same high speed between
a CubeSat in LEO and HICALI in GEO one year later.

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9. Conclusion
The system and component technology necessary for a successful inter-satellite
laser communication link exist today. The growing requirements for efficient and secure
communications have led to increased interest in the operational deployment of laser
crosslinks for commercial and military satellite systems in both low earth and
geosynchronous orbits. With the dramatic increase in the data handling requirement for
satellite communication services, laser inter-satellite links offer an attractive alternative to
RF with virtually unlimited growth potential and an unregulated spectrum. The
demonstration programs underway in the United States, Europe, and Japan will show the
way for future large-scale applications of laser communications to satellite cross-links.

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