Title :
Palomar Receive Terminal (PRT) for the Mars Laser Communication Demonstration (MLCD) Project
Author :
Biswas, Abhijit ; Moision, Bruce ; Roberts, William T. ; Farr, William H. ; Gray, Andrew ; Quirk, Kevin ; Hamkins, Jon ; Cheng, Michael K. ; Gin, Jonathan ; Nakashima, Michael ; Ortiz, Gerardo G. ; Piazzolla, Sabino ; Liebe, Carl Christian ; Losh, David L
Author_Institution :
California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena
Abstract :
Significant technological advances were made toward utilizing the Hale telescope for receiving the faint laser communication signals transmitted from an optical transceiver on a spacecraft orbiting Mars. The so-called Palomar receive terminal design, which would have supported nominal downlink data rates of 1-30 Mbps, is described. Testing to validate technologies for near-Sun (3deg from edge of solar disc) daytime operations is also discussed. Finally, a laboratory end-to-end link utilizing a 64-ary pulse-position modulated photon-counting receiver and decoder that achieved predicted near-capacity (within 1.4 dB) performance is described.
Keywords :
Mars; astronomical telescopes; optical links; optical modulation; optical receivers; optical transmitters; photon counting; pulse position modulation; space communication links; telecommunication terminals; Hale telescope; MLCD project; Mars laser communication demonstration; Palomar receive terminal design; bit rate 1 Mbit/s to 30 Mbit/s; downlink data rates; end-to-end link; near-sun daytime operation; optical transceiver; photon-counting decoder; photon-counting receiver; pulse-position modulation; Downlink; Laboratories; Mars; Optical receivers; Pulse modulation; Space technology; Space vehicles; Telescopes; Testing; Transceivers; Deep space; laser communication; photon counting; pulse-position modulation;
Journal_Title :
Proceedings of the IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JPROC.2007.905054
