Attempts at optical detection of pulsars.
Optical detection of pulsars with emphasis on CP 1919, discussing optical variation
Cameron, A. G. W.↗
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Identification of the Ga interstitial in Al(x)Ga(1-x)As by optically detected magnetic resonance
A new optically detected magnetic resonance spectrum in Al(x)Ga(1-x)As is reported and assigned to native Ga interstitials. Luminescence-quenching signals were observed over the energy region from 0.75 to 1.1 eV. The optically detected magnetic resonance is nearly isotropic, with spin-Hamiltonian parameters g = 2.025 + or - 0.006, central hyperfine splitting A(Ga-69) = 0.050 + or - 0.001/cm, and A(Ga-71) = 0.064 + or - 0.001/cm for H near the 001 line. The strong hyperfine coupling denotes an electronic state of A1 symmetry, which current theories predict for the Ga interstitial but not the Ga antisite. The slight anisotropy probably indicates that the Ga(i) is paired with a second, unknown defect.
Kennedy, T. A.↗
Optical Detection of Lightning from Space
Two primary detection techniques (optical and RF) have a proven capability for detecting lightning from low earth orbit. However, the lightning processes that generate the optical and RF signals are vastly different providing significantly different information content from each sensor type. Because of the intervening ionosphere, low frequency RF components do not reach satellite altitudes. As a consequence, many of the processes associated with the major energy release of a lightning event (i.e. return strokes, k-changes, recoil streamers, etc), in all likelihood contribute little to the RF signal arriving at the satellite. The optical output from lighting, on the other hand, has been shown to be highly correlated with the energetic, charge-transferring processes mentioned above. On the down side, the optical energy, while essentially unaffected by the atmosphere once it emerges from the cloud, is heavily scattered within the cloud. While there is little absorption by the cloud, the great optical depth makes the total light energy emerging from the cloud to be dependent on where in the cloud the lightning occurred. Analyses suggest that when lightning is confined to the lowest regions of the cloud, the light is strongly attenuated and detection becomes problematic. Fortunately, the vast majority of lightning flashes are comprised of channels that propagate through the middle of the cloud and higher. These flashes produce bright signals at the top of a cloud and are readily detectable. Presently, we have two optical instruments in orbit. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) has been orbiting the earth since April, 1995, while the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) was launched on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) in November of 1997. Both instruments are relatively small, solid state optical imagers, designed specifically to detect and locate lightning activity from low earth orbit with high detection efficiency and location accuracy.
Christian, H. J.↗
Methods for Passive Optical Detection and Relative Navigation for Rendezvous with a Non-Cooperative Object at Mars
Long-range passive optical detection of an orbiting inert sphere by a robotic Mars orbiter is investigated and trades are described in terms of detectability via reflected visible light in the presence of orbit uncertainty, gravitational perturbations, and camera electronics noise. A new approximate equation for signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) is developed to include most relevant camera imperfections, diffraction, and stray light from the Mars limb as relevant to this scenario. Using this method, a notional camera suite is designed to meet detection, navigation, and redundancy requirements for an example mission scenario. Results from a simulation tool demonstrate the long-range initial detection strategy in the presence of perturbations from various sources. Finally, navigation analysis shows that the information gathered using passive optical detection is sufficient to begin orbit matching.
Woolley, Ryan C.↗
Optical Detection of Formaldehyde
The potential for buildup .of formaldehyde in closed space environments poses a direct health hazard to personnel. The National Aeronautic Space Agency (NASA) has established a maximum permitted concentration of 0.04 ppm for 7 to 180 days for all space craft. Early detection is critical to ensure that formaldehyde levels do not accumulate. above these limits. New sensor technologies are needed to enable real time,in situ detection in a compact and reusable form factor. Addressing this need,research into the use of reactive fluorescent dyes which reversibly bind to formaldehyde (liquid or gas) has been conducted to support the development of a formaldehyde.sensor. In the presence of formaldehyde the dyes' characteristic fluorescence peaks shift providing the basis for an optical detection. Dye responses to formaldehyde exposure were characterized; demonstrating the optical detection of formaldehyde in under 10 seconds and down to concentrations of 0.5 ppm. To .incorporate the dye .in.an optical sensor device requires. a means of containing and manipulating the dye. Multiple form factors using two dissimilar s~bstrates were considered to determine a suitable configuration. A prototype sensor was demonstrated and considerations for a field able sensor were presented. This research provides a necessary first step toward the development of a compact, reusable; real time optical formaldehyde sensor suitable for use in the U.S. space program,
Patty, Kira D.↗
Figure of merit for direct-detection optical channels
The capacity and sensitivity of a direct-detection optical channel are calculated and compared to those of a white Gaussian noise channel. Unlike Gaussian channels in which the receiver performance can be characterized using the noise temperature, the performance of the direct-detection channel depends on both signal and background noise, as well as the ratio of peak to average signal power. Because of the signal-power dependence of the optical channel, actual performance of the channel can be evaluated only by considering both transmit and receive ends of the systems. Given the background noise power and the modulation bandwidth, however, the theoretically optimum receiver sensitivity can be calculated. This optimum receiver sensitivity can be used to define the equivalent receiver noise temperature and calculate the corresponding G/T product. It should be pointed out, however, that the receiver sensitivity is a function of signal power, and care must be taken to avoid deriving erroneous projections of the direct-detection channel performance.
Chen, C.-C.↗
Comparison of direct and heterodyne detection optical intersatellite communication links
The performance of direct and heterodyne detection optical intersatellite communication links are evaluated and compared. It is shown that the performance of optical links is very sensitive to the pointing and tracking errors at the transmitter and receiver. In the presence of random pointing and tracking errors, optimal antenna gains exist that will minimize the required transmitter power. In addition to limiting the antenna gains, random pointing and tracking errors also impose a power penalty in the link budget. This power penalty is between 1.6 to 3 dB for a direct detection QPPM link, and 3 to 5 dB for a heterodyne QFSK system. For the heterodyne systems, the carrier phase noise presents another major factor of performance degradation that must be considered. In contrast, the loss due to synchronization error is small. The link budgets for direct and heterodyne detection systems are evaluated. It is shown that, for systems with large pointing and tracking errors, the link budget is dominated by the spatial tracking error, and the direct detection system shows a superior performance because it is less sensitive to the spatial tracking error. On the other hand, for systems with small pointing and tracking jitters, the antenna gains are in general limited by the launch cost, and suboptimal antenna gains are often used in practice. In which case, the heterodyne system has a slightly higher power margin because of higher receiver sensitivity.
Chen, C. C.↗
A new look at coding for APD-based direct-detection optical channels
Coding for avalanche-photodiode (APD)-based direct-detection optical channels is investigated using a simple channel model that clearly points out the difference between the signal-dependent optical noise channel model and the additive white Gaussian noise channel model. Coding and modulation are viewed as a single entity, and the coding/modulation gain (CMG) is used to analyze and construct good codes for APD-based optical receivers. It is shown that the structure of block codes, when used in conjunction with on-off keying signaling, renders these codes fairly inefficient with respect to obtaining reasonable CMG on the optical channel. In contrast, codes (or modulations) that use fewer channel ones (pulses) than information ones per block can offer substantial CMG on the optical channel. For bandwidth-constrained applications, it is proposed that pulse-position modulation be used with more than one pulse per word to obtain reasonable CMG while consuming small amounts of bandwidth.
Herro, Mark A.↗
Bandwidth requirements for direct detection optical communication receivers with PPM signaling
The performance of a direct detection optical communication receiver for pulse position modulation (PPM) signal formats which contains an avalanche photodiode photodetector is calculated as a function of the parameters which characterize a raised cosine filter used in the receiver. It is shown that the performance penalty of this receiver relative to that of an optimal receiver which contains an integrator and assumes a perfectly rectangular PPM pulse shape is less than 1 dB at a receiver bit error rate of 10 exp -6. The advantage of the raised cosine filter is that the electrical bandwidth required is no more than one-half that of the integrator, that is, 1/tau as opposed to 2/tau where tau is the PPM time slot duration.
Davidson, Frederic M.↗
Optical Detection of Lightning from Space
Optical sensors have been developed to detect lightning from space during both day and night. These sensors have been fielded in two existing satellite missions and may be included on a third mission in 2002. Satellite-hosted, optically-based lightning detection offers three unique capabilities: (1) the ability to reliably detect lightning over large, often remote, spatial regions, (2) the ability to sample all (IC and CG) lightning, and (3) the ability to detect lightning with uniform (i.e., not range-dependent) sensitivity or detection efficiency. These represent significant departures from conventional RF-based detection techniques, which typically have strong range dependencies (biases) or range limitations in their detection capabilities. The atmospheric electricity team of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Global Hydrology and Climate Center has implemented a three-step satellite lightning research program which includes three phases: proof-of-concept/climatology, science algorithm development, and operational application. The first instrument in the program, the Optical Transient Detector (OTD), is deployed on a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite with near-polar inclination, yielding global coverage. The sensor has a 1300 x 1300 sq km field of view (FOV), moderate detection efficiency, moderate localization accuracy, and little data bias. The OTD is a proof-of-concept instrument and its mission is primarily a global lightning climatology. The limited spatial accuracy of this instrument makes it suboptimal for use in case studies, although significant science knowledge has been gained from the instrument as deployed.
Boccippio, Dennis J.↗
Word timing recovery in direct detection optical PPM communication systems with avalanche photodiodes using a phase lock loop
A technique for word timing recovery in a direct-detection optical PPM communication system is described. It tracks on back-to-back pulse pairs in the received random PPM data sequences with the use of a phase locked loop. The experimental system consisted of an 833-nm AlGaAs laser diode transmitter and a silicon avalanche photodiode photodetector, and it used Q = 4 PPM signaling at source data rate 25 Mb/s. The mathematical model developed to describe system performance is shown to be in good agreement with the experimental measurements. Use of this recovered PPM word clock with a slot clock recovery system caused no measurable penalty in receiver sensitivity. The completely self-synchronized receiver was capable of acquiring and maintaining both slot and word synchronizations for input optical signal levels as low as 20 average detected photons per information bit. The receiver achieved a bit error probability of 10 to the -6th at less than 60 average detected photons per information bit.
Sun, Xiaoli↗
NASA/GSFC program in direct detection optical communications for intersatellite links
NASA-Goddard has undertaken the development of direct-detection optical communications for space applications at the Gbps data rate channel capability level. The primary challenges to optical communications designers lie in the development of reliable optical power sources, as well as of high performance pointing/acquisition/tracking systems required by the narrow widths of the transmitted optical beams. GaAlAs diodes and their arrays are currently the most attractive technology for optical transmitters; pioneering work has also been conducted on dichroic and grating techniques for combining the power of several laser diodes. Attention is given to the performance obtained for an optical link acquisition and submicroradian tracking/pointing system.
Fitzmaurice, M.↗
Direct-detection optical communication with color coded pulse position modulation signaling
The performance characteristics of a direct-detection optical communication system which is based on a laser transmitter which produces single light pulses at selected nonoverlapping optical center frequencies are discussed. The signal format, called color coded pulse position modulation (CCPPM), uses more of the total available response bandwidth characteristics of the photodetector than does ordinary PPM signaling. The advantages of CCPPM signaling are obtained at the expense of an increased optical bandwidth of the transmitted signal and a more complicated transmitter and receiver structure. When the signal format is used in conjunction with block length Reed-Solomon codes, high data rates and reliable high-speed optical communications under conditions of optimal energy efficiency are obtained.
Davidson, F.↗
Channel simulation for direct detection optical communication systems
A technique is described for simulating the random modulation imposed by atmospheric scintillation and transmitter pointing jitter on a direct detection optical communication system. The system is capable of providing signal fading statistics which obey log normal, beta, Rayleigh, Ricean or chi-squared density functions. Experimental tests of the performance of the Channel Simulator are presented.
Tycz, M.↗
Channel simulation for direct-detection optical communication systems
A technique is described for simulating the random modulation imposed by atmospheric scintillation and transmitter pointing jitter on a direct-detection optical communication system. The system is capable of providing signal fading statistics which obey log-normal, beta, Rayleigh, Ricean, or chi-square density functions. Experimental tests of the performance of the channel simulator are presented.
Tycz, M.↗
Receiver processing for direct-detection optical communication systems.
A model that is sufficiently general to describe the predominant statistical characteristics of the output of many real optical detectors is formulated. This model is used to study the optimum receiver processing for direct-detection optical communication systems. In particular, the structures of detectors and estimators for filtered doubly stochastic Poisson processes (DSPP) observed in additive white Gaussian noise are considered. Representations for the posterior statistics of a vector Markov process that modulates the intensity of the DSPP are obtained.
Hoversten, E. V.↗
Capacity, cutoff rate, and coding for a direct-detection optical channel
It is shown that Pierce's pulse position modulation scheme with 2 to the L pulse positions used on a self-noise-limited direct detection optical communication channel results in a 2 to the L-ary erasure channel that is equivalent to the parallel combination of L completely correlated binary erasure channels. The capacity of the full channel is the sum of the capacities of the component channels, but the cutoff rate of the full channel is shown to be much smaller than the sum of the cutoff rates. An interpretation of the cutoff rate is given that suggests a complexity advantage in coding separately on the component channels. It is shown that if short-constraint-length convolutional codes with Viterbi decoders are used on the component channels, then the performance and complexity compare favorably with the Reed-Solomon coding system proposed by McEliece for the full channel. The reasons for this unexpectedly fine performance by the convolutional code system are explored in detail, as are various facets of the channel structure.
Massey, J. L.↗
Direct detection optical intersatellite link at 220 Mbps using AlGaAs laser diode and silicon APD with 4-ary PPM signaling
A newly developed 220 Mbps free-space 4-ary pulse position modulation (PPM) direct detection optical communication system is described. High speed GaAs integrated circuits were used to construct the PPM encoder and receiver electronic circuits. Both PPM slot and word timing recovery were provided in the PPM receiver. The optical transmitter consisted of an AlGaAs laser diode (Mitsubishi ML5702A, lambda=821nm) and a high speed driver unit. The photodetector consisted of a silicon avalanche photodiode (APD) (RCA30902S) preceded by an optical interference filter (delta lambda=10nm). Preliminary tests showed that the self-synchronized PPM receiver could achieve a receiver bit error rate of less than 10(exp -6) at 25 nW average received optical signal power or 360 photons per transmitted information bit. The relatively poor receiver sensitivity was believed to be caused by the insufficient electronic bandwidth of the APD preamplifier and the poor linearity of the preamplifier high frequency response.
Sun, Xiaoli↗