Fabrication and testing of laser communication terminals for aircraft

Michael E. Gangl; T. Matthew Fletcher; James A. Cunningham; Dennis Foulke; Donald S. Fisher; Dean Grinch; David Jeri; Daniel Hopf; Timothy Goode; Daniel Baber

doi:10.1117/12.673588

12 May 2006 Fabrication and testing of laser communication terminals for aircraft

Michael E. Gangl, T. Matthew Fletcher, James A. Cunningham, Dennis Foulke, Donald S. Fisher, Dean Grinch, David Jeri, Daniel Hopf, Timothy Goode, Daniel Baber

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6243, Enabling Photonics Technologies for Defense, Security, and Aerospace Applications II; 624304 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.673588
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2006, Orlando (Kissimmee), Florida, United States

Abstract

Laser communication terminals have been developed which can be integrated into an aircraft or used in a ground station for transmitting 2.5 Gbps data between aircraft or from an aircraft to ground. The terminals were built under the Air Force Research Laboratory's EO Sensor Technology & Evaluation Research (ESTER) program. Lessons were learned during the fabrication of the terminals which provided insight into the optical and electrical aspects of performance. Upon integration of most of the system components into the terminal assemblies, the first two units were taken to northeast Ohio for a series of initial outdoor field measurements. These measurements provided insight into environmental impacts to system performance, primarily atmospheric scintillation and turbulence as well as pointing stability. In this paper we provide a description of our terminal hardware, field test results to date, and outline the future program activities.

Citation Download Citation

Michael E. Gangl, T. Matthew Fletcher, James A. Cunningham, Dennis Foulke, Donald S. Fisher, Dean Grinch, David Jeri, Daniel Hopf, Timothy Goode, and Daniel Baber "Fabrication and testing of laser communication terminals for aircraft", Proc. SPIE 6243, Enabling Photonics Technologies for Defense, Security, and Aerospace Applications II, 624304 (12 May 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.673588

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