Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Pablo I Hopman

Lawrence M Candell

Gary A Shaw

A dual-mode imaging receiver (DMIR) can acquire and maintain SOA free-space optical communication (FSOC) links without a precision mechanical gimbal. Unlike other FSOC technologies, a DMIR can operate without precise spatial alignment and calibration of the transmitter's or receiver's spatial encoders (precision pointing) in static (fixed point to point) geometries. Instead, a DMIR uses electronic receive beam selection to acquire and track transmitters with coarse mechanical pointing and a single aperture. And because the DMIR can operate with just one aperture, it does not need a beacon at the transmitter since it does not transition from a wide field-of-view acquisition aperture to a narrow field-of-view detection and decoding aperture even in dynamic geometries.

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Harvard, MA, United States of America

Pablo I Hopman