Study on Space Optical Communication Systems

Kurzfassung

In this report, various subsystems/components of free space opti- cal communication systems have been briefly described. Perfor- mance of commonly used coherent and noncoherent receivers in the background noise environment has been evaluated. A new coherent re- ceiver configuration, PIN photodiode with an optical amplifier, has been included in the analysis. The minimum required average optical power, i.e., receiver sensitivity for achieving given performance at a given data rate has been determined. On the basis of sensitivity and physical realizabbility, suitable coherent and noncoherent systems for space communications have been identified. For these systems, power budget for Mars-Earth link has been prepared and their comparative study has been made.