Multi-link optical communications system

The authors have demonstrated a wide-field-of-view optical receiver in the laboratory. The receiver was a distributed array of 20 individual elements, each responsible for a 10° field of view. The combined elements provided 180° coverage in a horizontal plane. The receive elements were interfaced through an analog-to-digital converter to a digital MicroVax computer, which served as a host for the signal-processing software for the system. The signal processor can monitor all 20 receive elements and can track up to three independent communications signals as they move around the receiver. Normalization factors were calculated for the receiver so that each element would have the same response to a given amount of input optical energy. Point back angles were computed for a transmitter which could then close the communications link. The system performance is discussed