Berkson, Joel | Search NASA

NASA NTRS2018

Exploration of Double Clad Fibers for Increased Stability of Bidirectional Free Space Optical Links

Bidirectional, high data rate, low size, weight, and power (SWaP), and low cost free space optical links are needed for space communication applications to send and receive large volumes of data. We are exploring design strategies for optical transceivers to reduce SWaP and cost through increased misalignment tolerance (pointing requirement reduction) and sharing the optical transmit and receive paths (imposing optical symmetry). In applications where the detector is fiber coupled, the fiber numerical aperture is the main driver of the pointing accuracy requirement. Unfortunately, reducing the pointing requirement by increasing the fiber numerical aperture symmetrically causes instability in received power over small environmental changes. This paper explores double clad fibers as a solution to both reduce the power instability and increase the pointing accuracy tolerance. Double clad fibers can transmit a Gaussian beam from a single mode fiber and receive in a multi-mode aperture. Results show that double clad fiber have an improved misalignment tolerance and a higher stability for small changes in temperature when compared to single mode fibers and multimode fibers. Also, double clad fibers are shown to match the performance of an asymmetrical link design with a single mode transmit fiber and a multimode receive fiber.

Double Clad fibers↗

NASA NTRS2018

Bit Error Rate Performance on Passive Alignment in Free Space Optical Links Using Large Core Fibers

A 20-meter free-space optical link (FSOL) is proposed for data transmission between external ISS payload sites and the main cabin at a target rate of 10 Gbps (gigabits per second). Motion between a payload site and the main cabin is predicted to cause up to 5 cm in lateral misalignment and 0.2 degrees of angular misalignment. Due to the harsh environment of space it is advantageous to locate the optical transceivers inside the spacecraft or in a controlled environment. With the optical components and transceivers in separate locations, a fiber optic cable will be required to carry light between the two. In our past work we found that the use of large-core fibers provide an increased misalignment tolerance for such systems and could eliminate the need for active control of the optics. In that work, it was shown that a 105 ïm core diameter fiber optic cable offered a viable low SWaP (size, weight, and power) solution for the ISS application; however, the effects of modal dispersion were not investigated. This paper will present bit error rate performance of the FSOL using these large-core fibers.

Free Space Optical Link↗

NASA NTRS2018

Exploration of Double Clad Fibers for Increased Stability of Bidirectional Free Space Optical Links

Bidirectional, high data rate, low size, weight, and power (SWaP), and low cost free space optical links are needed for space communication applications to send and receive large volumes of data. We are exploring design strategies for optical transceivers to reduce SWaP and cost through increased misalignment tolerance (pointing requirement reduction) and sharing the optical transmit and receive paths (imposing optical symmetry). In applications where the detector is fiber coupled, the fiber numerical aperture is the main driver of the pointing accuracy requirement. Unfortunately, reducing the pointing requirement by increasing the fiber numerical aperture symmetrically causes instability in received power over small environmental changes. This paper explores double clad fibers as a solution to both reduce the power instability and increase the pointing accuracy tolerance. Double clad fibers can transmit a Gaussian beam from a single mode fiber and receive in a multi-mode aperture. Results show that double clad fiber have an improved misalignment tolerance and a higher stability for small changes in temperature when compared to single mode fibers and multimode fibers. Also, double clad fibers are shown to match the performance of an asymmetrical link design with a single mode transmit fiber and a multimode receive fiber.

Double Clad fibers↗

NASA NTRS2018

Bit Error Rate Performance on Passive Alignment in Free Space Optical Links Using Large Core Fibers

A 20-meter free-space optical link (FSOL) is proposed for data transmission between external ISS payload sites and the main cabin at a target rate of 10 Gbps (gigabits per second). Motion between a payload site and the main cabin is predicted to cause up to 5 cm in lateral misalignment and 0.2 degrees of angular misalignment. Due to the harsh environment of space it is advantageous to locate the optical transceivers inside the spacecraft or in a controlled environment. With the optical components and transceivers in separate locations, a fiber optic cable will be required to carry light between the two. In our past work we found that the use of large-core fibers provide an increased misalignment tolerance for such systems and could eliminate the need for active control of the optics. In that work, it was shown that a 105 ïm core diameter fiber optic cable offered a viable low SWaP (size, weight, and power) solution for the ISS application; however, the effects of modal dispersion were not investigated. This paper will present bit error rate performance of the FSOL using these large-core fibers.

Optical Bit Error Rate Testing↗